Farmer’s wife and accomplished cook, Henrietta Balcon, reveals her recipe for this delicious twist on cauliflower cheese…
Spring has sprung and the garden is starting to grow. My Rhubarb is up and will soon be delicious.The Asparagus will be next to show and we are so lucky to have this vegetable although it is a short season. What a delicious vegetable it is, by itself with just butter or with a hollandaise sauce.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli is wonderful and tender but sadly loses it’s wonderful purple colour when it is cooked. Spring Cabbage is something else to savour. Have you tried it gently fried with butter, salt and pepper? Then the first of the onions, the spring onion. So much to look forward to in the spring and it’s time to plan your veg patch.
But meanwhile, here’s a warming vegetable dish which can easily be made dairy free. This can also be made totally vegan and is a great vegetarian dish if you are entertaining as it looks and tastes good.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
- olive oil
- 40g Cheddar cheese / goats’ or sheep cheese
- 100g melted butter / dairy-free equivalent
- 5 sheets of shop bought filo pastry
- salt and pepper
For the sauce
- 50g butter / dairy-free equivalent
- 50g plain flour
- 500ml milk/dairy free equivalent
- 1tsp English mustard
- 150g strong Cheddar cheese / Manchego cheese, grated]
- nutmeg
METHOD
- Heat the oven to 210ºc/190ºc fan/gas 7/ Aga top right
- Place the chopped cauliflower florets and chopped leaves and stalks in a roasting try and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Place in the oven and roast for about 30 mins, until lightly charred and tender. Once cooked set aside until needed.
- To make the cheese sauce, make a roux with the butter melted in a saucepan. Once melted add the flour and cook the roux for 3-4 mins.
This is very important. Now gradually whisk in the milk, slowly, trying to avoid lumps. Once all the milk has been incorporated, simmer for about
2 mins until it thickens. Add the mustard and the grated cheese (keep some cheese back for sprinkling on top). Stir the sauce until it is smooth and
grate in a bit of nutmeg and pepper and salt to taste. - Melt the remaining butter and gently oil a round spring form cake tin, an 8 inch one should be a good size. Take a sheet of filo pastry and lay it inside the tin, making sure the edge hangs over the side of the tin.
Brush the filo with the melted butter and lay the next sheet slightly overlapping until you have covered the whole tin in pastry. Remember to butter each sheet after you lay it. Filo pasty has no fat in it, so needs the butter. Make sure the base and all the sides are covered. - Tip the roasted cauliflower into the tin in the centre.
- Pour over the cheese sauce, covering it evenly. Ruffle up the hanging over bits of pastry around the pie until you have a good-looking finish.
- Now scatter the top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 20 mins.
- When, ready, remove the outside rim and leave the base and place it back into oven to finish cooking for a further 20 mins until the sides of the pie are golden.
- Leave to cool slightly and for the filling to set slightly
About Henrietta Balcon: Henrietta is an arable farmer’s wife from East Anglia, who is passionate about local food and eating seasonally.
Henrietta Balcon
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 edition of The Country Smallholder.
