Microwave Cauliflower Cheese

You can make a cauliflower cheese in the microwave in under 10 minutes. I always begrudge the cost of supermarket cauliflower cheese, so have never bought a ready meal. I always make my own cauliflower cheese at home.

I’d bought a whole cauliflower from the Aldi Super Six for 59p, intending to make cauliflower cheese for my Christmas dinner this year, so I needed to make it and freeze it, then defrost it on the day to serve. The photo above is how it turned out after I’d defrosted it on Christmas Day and put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes to brown the top.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower, either a whole/fresh one, or even frozen florets

Cheese sauce:

• 25 grams butter or margarine
• 10-20 grams flour, either plain or self raising, 10 grams for a thin sauce, 20 grams for a thick sauce
• 100ml milk, I use full fat milk, but any milk will do
• 50-75 grams of cheese, I usually use cheddar cheese.

Method:

1. If you’re using a fresh cauliflower, then remove all the outer leaves and cut the cauliflower head down into fat chunks, or fat slices, or as florets. It’s your choice how you want your cauliflower cheese to be! Some people might even want to keep it whole, if you’re doing this then stick a knife up the centre of the stalk to aid cooking.
2. Place the cauliflower pieces into a microwave steamer, with water added to the base.
3. Microwave on high power for 3 minutes. Turn the cauliflower pieces and microwave again for 3 minutes.
4. Check how it’s doing by pressing a knife into the cauliflower – it’ll probably need another 2 minutes.
5. Once the cauliflower has cooked, remove from the microwave and leave to one side while you make the cheese sauce.

Microwave Cheese Sauce:

1. Melt the butter or margarine in a microwave safe dish or Pyrex jug
2. Spoon the flour into the melted margarine, mixing the two together using a fork, which takes about 10 seconds.
3. Start to add your milk, then use your fork to ensure there are no lumps.  Add the rest of the milk a little at a time, using your fork and checking there are no lumps. This is white sauce, sometimes called a roux.  
4. Microwave your white sauce for 15-30 seconds, stir; repeat this a few times, for about 2 minutes.  You now have a hot white sauce that should be lump free.  You can add a little more milk if it’s mixing up thicker than you’d like, you choose how thick or thin the sauce should be.
5. Add the cheese to the white sauce and mix it through – grated cheese melts faster.  Microwave the cheese sauce for 30 seconds at a time, stirring it, until it’s just how you like it. You can always add a little more milk to make the sauce thinner, or add more cheese to thicken it up. You’ll have it “just right” within 2 minutes.

You can now pour the cheese sauce over your cauliflower to serve straight away. Sprinkle a little grated cheddar over the top if you wish. The photo below shows just cauliflower cheese, in a takeaway box ready to go into the freezer, I’ll add more cheese at the time of reheating probably!

You can, optionally, brown the cheese sauce under the grill, or in the oven, in an ovenproof dish.

You can freeze your cauliflower cheese if you wish, just by popping it into a freezer safe container (I use takeaway boxes).