I've Got A Crush..........On Cheesy Cauliflower!

Cauliflower is one of those go to vegetables when following the keto lifestyle as it is so low in carbs you can pretty much eat it until you are stuffed....it also goes well with cheese....isn't that convenient! as cheese is another of those keto friendly items, though it should be eaten in moderation.

But as one should not be indulging in items that are high in carbs, a traditional style cauliflower cheese made with a rich cheesy sauce of butter, flour and milk is simply out of the question.
Yes one can simply boil or steam ones cauliflower and pour a little cream over the top, scatter some grated cheese and pop it in the oven, but that tends to get a bit boring after a while.....even for me!
So lets bring on an alternative way to enjoy our cauliflower cheese.

If you are blessed with a food processor, then this dish is easy peasy and swift to make, and, the cauliflower will not have to be cooked too much....if you have to crush the cauliflower with say, a potato masher then you really have to cook it to death otherwise you'll get a sore arm when mashing.



So for this very easy cheesy cauliflower crush, you will need.......feeds 4 people by the way.....

1 large head of cauliflower
200 mls cream
50g blue cheese or mature cheddar if you don't like blue
100 g mozzarella
50g hard goats cheese or 20g parmesan
sea salt
freshly milled black pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice...about 1/2 a lemon
a drizzle of olive oil
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

How to.........

• grate your cheese into a bowl and mix together well...set aside while you cook the cauli etc.
• place the cream in a saucepan and heat gently, bring to the boil and allow it to reduce for about 20 seconds, remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard, season with a little salt and pepper
• remove all outer leaves and stalk from the cauliflower and separate into quite large florets
• cook in boiling salted water until just tender
• drain well...if the florets still seem very wet you can pat them dry with some kitchen paper
• place the cauliflower in the food processor and blend on pulse until it resembles tiny bread crumbs
• pour in the cream and continue to pulse until you have a creamy consistency, add the lemon juice and pulse once more
• scoop out the puree into a clean bowl and fold in the grated cheese....you now have the choice to allow it to cool until you want it or to reheat it and let the cheese melt

You can re-heat this in the microwave if you want but as I hate them and use mine to store bread! I re-heat this gently in a saucepan or in a covered dish in the oven....you can also give it a zap under a hot grill to give a nice crunchy crust on top.

Serve in a bowl drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil and let everyone can help themselves.

Enjoy as a vegetable side dish.....use as a polenta replacement...helps you stay away from those high carb things!...... and serve with a vegetable or meat casserole over the top......if you have any leftovers, you can allow them to cool then refrigerate them to be used later as a sort of low carb cheesy hummus....tres yummy!