Cauliflower cheese spaghetti | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

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Cauliflower cheese spaghetti

With garlicky breadcrumbs

  • Vegetarianv

With garlicky breadcrumbs

  • Vegetarianv

“Who doesn’t love a quick pasta? This lovely little number is all about keeping costs down and ramping up flavour. I’ve taken my favourite side dish (the iconic cauliflower cheese) and turned it into something a little bit grown-up. Frozen cauliflower works so well here to create a creamy, elegant sauce in no time at all – trust me. ”

Serves 4

Cooks In30 minutes

DifficultyNot too tricky

Cauliflower

Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 550 28%

  • Fat 18.4g 26%

  • Saturates 7.7g 39%

  • Sugars 11.6g 13%

  • Salt 0.7g 12%

  • Protein 24.7g 49%

  • Carbs 75.6g 29%

  • Fibre 5.2g -

Of an adult's reference intake

Cauliflower cheese spaghetti | Jamie Oliver recipes (3)

Recipe From

£1 Wonders

By Jamie Oliver

Tap For Method

Ingredients

  • 400 g frozen cauliflower florets
  • 1 leek
  • olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 slice of stale crusty white bread (50g)
  • 20 g mixed nuts
  • 1 pinch of dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon plain flour
  • 400 ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 100 g mature Cheddar cheese
  • 300 g dried spaghetti

Tap For Method

£1 or less per portion recipes were calculated using costs from an average of four UK supermarkets in September 2022. FIND OUT MORE

Buy ingredients online (below) is brought to you by Whisk.com

Cauliflower cheese spaghetti | Jamie Oliver recipes (4)

Recipe From

£1 Wonders

By Jamie Oliver

Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Place the frozen cauliflower into a microwave-proof bowl. Trim off the white part of the leek (putting the green top aside for later), add to the bowl and cook in the microwave on high (800W) for 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is defrosted and the leek has softened.
  2. Meanwhile, place a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Peel, finely slice and stir in 1 clove of garlic and cook for 2 minutes, or until golden, then very finely slice and add the green leek top. Roughly chop the bread to create rustic breadcrumbs, add to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, or until starting to crisp up, stirring occasionally. Finely chop and add the nuts, stirring until toasted, then transfer everything to a plate.
  3. Return the pan to the heat with 1 teaspoon of oil. Peel, finely slice and add the remaining garlic and fry for 2 minutes, or until golden. Slice and add the softened white part of the leek, then stir through the dried thyme and softened cauliflower.
  4. Stir the flour into the pan, then gradually add the milk, a ladleful at a time, stirring continuously until you have a smooth sauce. Remove from the heat, then either blitz it with a hand blender until silky smooth, or use a potato masher to mash everything together to create a rustic sauce. Grate in most of the cheese, stirring gently to combine.
  5. Cook the pasta in a pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions, then drag it straight into the sauce, taking a little cooking water with it. Toss together, adding a splash of starchy cooking water to loosen, if needed.
  6. Divide between plates, sprinkling over the crispy breadcrumbs and grating over the reserved cheese, to serve.

Tips

HELPFUL HINT
The cooked cauliflower and leek tossed through the garlic actually makes a delicious side dish. And the cheat’s white sauce can be used in a lasagne to add extra veg, or poured over fish before cooking.

EASY SWAPS
The principle of the sauce can be embraced with your favourite veg. Go orange with carrot or squash, or green with broccoli – have fun with it!

FLAVOUR BOOST
Crunchy breadcrumbs like this are a joy, and would work on anything from salads to soups and stews, adding a nice bit of texture and extra flavour.

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Recipe From

£1 Wonders

By Jamie Oliver

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

Cauliflower cheese spaghetti | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why does my cauliflower cheese sauce split? ›

Cooking the cauliflower cheese at too high a temperature can sometimes cause the cheese to split, resulting in a slightly oily, grainy texture. A split sauce can also be avoided by removing the sauce from the heat before adding the cheese.

Can you eat cauliflower cheese as a main meal? ›

Rustle up one of the greatest comfort foods: cauliflower cheese. It makes a perfect side dish or vegetarian main meal.

Can you freeze cauliflower cheese? ›

It can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to cook. It is possible to freeze cauliflower cheese but unfortunately the sauce can sometimes turn thin and sligtly watery on defrosting, so we prefer not to freeze the dish if at all possible.

How to fix separated cheese sauce? ›

The first thing to try is adding more liquid. How much liquid to add depends on how much of the sauce is broken. If it is half-broken, add half as much again as the amount of oil that was used to break it in the first place. If it is completely broken, add equal volumes of oil and liquid.

How to stop cheese sauce from splitting? ›

For a cheese dip or sauce, the addition of cornstarch serves a similar function: Starch molecules absorb water and expand, not only thickening the liquid phase of the sauce, but also physically preventing the proteins from binding into long, tangled strands and the fats from separating out and pooling.

Why do you soak cauliflower before cooking? ›

If you're planning to roast the cauliflower whole or slice it into steaks, slice off the thick stem at the base. Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs.

Why does my cauliflower cheese sauce go watery? ›

Cauliflower cheese can go watery if the cauliflower is overcooked. Overcooked cauliflower releases water, which will seep into the rest of the dish. So even if your sauce was thick when it went in the oven, if its in there too long, the water from the cauliflower will cause it to go watery.

Can you reheat cauliflower cheese more than once? ›

Ideally, we should all eat food straight after it has been cooked. This is when it's at its freshest and likely to taste the best. In terms of food safety, however, so long as you reheat the food at the correct temperature and for the correct duration of time, it can in fact be safely reheated multiple times.

Why can't you reheat cauliflower cheese? ›

Can you reheat cauliflower cheese? Yes you can, and it will taste fine… But just be aware that it will dry out a little and the cauliflower will be a little bit softer… not a deal breaker, but definitely not as good as fresh! Simply place any leftover cauliflower in a lidded container and refrigerate.

How long will cauliflower cheese last in the fridge? ›

How long can you keep Cauliflower Cheese in the fridge? Once you've put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours. If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Cauliflower Cheese in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Why does my cheese sauce keep splitting? ›

Add a little fat back––a classic emulsified sauce is typically a 1:1 ratio of fat to liquid! If your sauce is breaking but is also very thin, vigorously whisking in a little fat (butter, egg yolk) can bring it around. Whisk whisk whisk––sometimes all a sauce needs is a little zhuzhing to come back together.

Why has my cheese sauce curdled? ›

Sauces curdle for two reasons - too high heat and not enough liquid. If your sauce curdles, add water or another liquid a spoon full at a time.

Why are my cauliflower heads splitting? ›

Why does this happen? The reason for this happening is simply down to growing conditions – the plant is stressed, probably from the hot, dry summer conditions that we had. The somewhat cold start to spring won't have helped either.

How to prevent watery cauliflower cheese? ›

Drain well

Make sure you drain the cauliflower really well after it's boiled up and before you add it to the dish, otherwise it will end up too watery.

References

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