Caulieflower Cheese.

I recently read about roasting caulie in the oven and thought I would give it a go as I had one to use up and the oven was on for a pasta bake for the kids and a banana cake for a present ( I am being 'put up' by a relative for a couple of days and they love my banana cake, well 'The dinner Lady' cookbook banana loaf to be exact, but adapted as I usually do). So back to the caulie, I broke it into small florets ( I weighed it, 12oz) and put into a flameproof dish in a single layer. I baked it for 45 minutes until crunchy and starting to brown. Now cheese sauce - I blitzed 50g ricotta, 1 tsp chipotle and cola sauce and 2 tbsp water. Then I stirred in 10g grated parmesan. I spread this over the caulie and topped with 20g mature cheddar cheese, then popped back in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.

Now you could serve this as an accompaniment to meat, fish, etc.... I had the lot with a handful of baby leaf salad. OMG, I loved it and won't cook caulie any other way from now on, with or without the cheese sauce.

The best thing was that the whole dish was 275kcals plus 25kcals for the salad. A yummy, belly satisfying plateful for 300kcals.

I know I've posted today already, but just had to pass this on whilst I remember how I made it, lol. 😊

[Hidden]

Hey up, forgot to say I put a couple of sqeezed roasted garlic cloves in with the ricotta when I blitzed it. See, air head that I am, knew I would forget something an essential ingredient too!

[Jo4950]

Sounds delish, love cauliflower so I am going to give it a go

[Hidden]

Will give this one a whirl!

[NiCherry]

Sounds great - and so low calorie to!

I think I'm gonna steal this one!!!

Cheers!

😊

[Joyce29]

Tomorrow's tea sorted - sounds delicious!

[Hidden]

Sounds delish, have written it down and will give it a go.

😇

[Portlandprincess]

Cauli is my favourite veg! Will be trying this...and the cheesecake was ....yummy

[Hidden in reply to Portlandprincess]

Glad you liked the cheesecake. Don't forget the garlic in the cheese sauce. Hot oven needed, 200*C.

Just realised, another cheesy recipe!! I'd best not post another for a while or folk will be thinking all I eat is cheese, lol. 😋

[Portlandprincess in reply to Hidden]

But you make the food tasty and interesting...before this forum I was living on veg soup....and was suffering side effects 😉

[Hidden in reply to Portlandprincess]

Nothing wrong with soup Pp, homemade especially. I make soup 2 - 3 times a week usually. Leek n potato, chicken noodle, lamb n barley, spiced squash, ooooh the list is endless. A very good filler upper, usually at least 2 of your 5 a day veg ways and a good way to use up odds n sods. Cheap ( mostly) and VERY cheerful. 😊

[Portlandprincess in reply to Hidden]

Spices squash! Lamb n barley....yum!

[Dave1961 25kg]

Thats so weird I was only looking at this recipe last week

goodfood.com.au/good-food/c...

And wished there was more than just me at home so I could justify baking a whole cauliflower - it looks so good and its really quite healthy.

And your recipe for skinny cauli bake so awesome!

[Hidden in reply to Dave1961]

I look at recipes I fancy and then try and adapt them as I feel I would like. The cheese sauce was originally from a pasta bake I saw in a magazine, but used mascarpone, tonnes of cheddar and parmesan. So I substituted the ricotta, added roasted garlic for a height of flavour and added the chipotle sauce, then massively reduced the cheddar and parmesan, I also changed the faffing method it took to make it. Basically, by the time I had finished it was a completely different sauce!!! As with most things though, if I don't write them down I forget what I put in and how I made it.

I would never have roasted caulie raw if I hadn't read about someone raving on in a magazine, it just wouldn't have entered my head. It really brings out the flavour.

The only drawback is that all that caulie can have a little adverse effect on your body, being on your own is a bonus, lol!! 😂

[Dave1961 25kg in reply to Hidden]

I tried out this heart healthy diet recently which had a broccolini salad I loved and nearly every main meal had cauliflower so yes I understand what you are saying about sometimes solitude is a good thing when it comes to "those" kind of vegetables