Creamy Cashew Cauliflower Cheese with Herbed Nutty Crumb
Don’t you think cauliflower cheese is just the cosiest dish ever and so perfect for the festive season.
Growing up as a veggie, cauliflower was a staple in our house and one of my favourite dinners as a kid was cauliflower cheese topped with peas and sweetcorn. A proper kids dinner.
Still to this day, cauliflower cheese is one of my go to comfort foods and this version is the best cauliflower cheese I’ve ever made! Wait until you try it!
I’ve given this wholesome dish a Wild Root make over introducing additional veggies to boost its nutritional destiny.
Rather the simply boil your cauliflower, I have roasted the cauliflower along with leek to give the veg a lovely deep charred flavour.
For the sauce, this is my classic creamy cashew cheese sauce with miso paste, Dijon mustard, garlic, soy milk, nutmeg and of course nutritional yeast. This is such a rich creamy indulgent sauce that just warms you from the inside out whilst being much healthier that a traditional roux based cheese sauce with so many diversity points for your gut.
Get this on your festive table this year, its a must!
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes! Why not assemble this dish and rather than pop it in the oven for its final bake, simple cover with foil and freeze. Defrost in the fridge over night and bake the next day for 40 minutes. Or you can cook from frozen but will take approx 1 hour 15 minutes and keep the foil on for the first 35 minutes to stop the crumb from burning.
Creamy Cashew Cauliflower Cheese with Herbed Nutty Crumb
Serves 10-12 as a side
Ingredients:
for roasting:
2 cauliflowers, cut into florets
1 large leek, in 2cm thick rounds
olive oil to coat
salt and pepper to taste
for the cheese sauce:
300g cashew nuts
750ml soy milk
2 tsp miso paste
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
for the crumb:
1 cup of your favourite mixed nut
10g fresh parsley leaves
10g fresh chives
10g fresh thyme leaves
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp salt
Method:
Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees and prep the veg.
Add cauliflower florets and leek rounds to a large baking tray or two, coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and roast for 40 minutes until lightly charred.
Meanwhile add all the cheese sauce ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until thick and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Add the roasted cauliflower and leeks to a large oven proof dish.
Pour over the cheese sauce.
Next it’s time to whiz up the crumb. Add crumb ingredients to a food processor and pulse carefully until a loose crumb forms. Be careful not to over blend as we are not making a pesto!
Sprinkle over the crumb.
Next pop into the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown on top and piping hot and bubbling. (Or at this stage you can tin foil the entire dish and freeze for a later date, see instructions above.)