The best cauliflower & broccoli cheese

With a crunchy almond breadcrumb topping

The best cauliflower & broccoli cheese

The best cauliflower & broccoli cheese

Serves 8 as a side
Cooks In1H 35M
DifficultyNot too tricky
Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 241 12%
  • Fat 14.4g 21%
  • Saturates 6.6g 33%
  • Sugars 7.4g 8%
  • Salt 0.6g 10%
  • Protein 13.6g 27%
  • Carbs 15.2g 6%
  • Fibre 4.2g -
Of an adult's reference intake
Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook
recipe adapted from

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver
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Ingredients

  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 50 g unsalted butter
  • 50 g plain flour
  • 600 ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 500 g fresh or frozen broccoli
  • 75 g mature cheddar cheese
  • 1 kg fresh or frozen cauliflower
  • 2 slices of ciabatta or stale bread
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 25 g flaked almonds
  • olive oil
Tap For Method
Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook
recipe adapted from

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver
Buy Now
Watch Here
Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
  2. Peel and finely slice the garlic and put it into a medium pan on a medium heat with the butter.
  3. When the butter has melted, stir in the flour for a minute to make a paste, then gradually add the milk, whisking as you go, until lovely and smooth.
  4. Add the broccoli (cut up first, if using fresh) and simmer for around 20 minutes, or until the broccoli is cooked through and starts to break down, then mash or blitz with a stick blender (adding an extra splash of milk to loosen, if using fresh broccoli). Grate in half the Cheddar and season to perfection.
  5. Arrange the cauliflower in an appropriately sized baking dish (cut into florets first, if using fresh), pour over the broccoli white sauce and grate over the remaining Cheddar.
  6. Blitz the bread into breadcrumbs in a food processor, then pulse in the thyme leaves and almonds. Toss with a lug of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, then scatter evenly over the cauliflower cheese.
  7. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden and cooked through, then enjoy!
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Tips

It’s really good fun to play around with different cheeses in this dish and how they taste and melt. It’s also nice to try different veg instead of cauliflower – for instance, 2–3cm chunks of celeriac, squash, potatoes or leeks would all work a treat. Have a play and see what your favourites are – some veg might take longer to cook than others, so test with a knife to check they’re cooked through before serving.