What you need:
1 large head of cauliflower
6 rashers of bacon
1 medium brown onion
5 cherry tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
2 spring onion stems, chopped
2 tablespoons of butter
Approx. 1 cup of milk (or half milk, half cream)
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
1 heaped tablespoon of cornflour (or one beaten egg yolk, to thicken)
1 cup of grated strong cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Break up the cauliflower into florets. You don't want them to be too big.
Steam the cauliflower for around 20 minutes, until it is nice and soft.
Meanwhile, chop up the onion and the bacon and fry in a little butter until both are nicely browned.
Next, you need to make a white sauce. This is probably the most tricky part of the dish. In a saucepan, melt the butter together with a bit of salt.
When it has melted, remove it completely from the stove and stir in the flour. Whisk it together until it forms a smooth paste. You might need to adjust the amount of flour slightly. Then, pour in the milk and whisk it again until it is completely free of any lumps. Then, return it to the stove and continue to stir over a medium heat until the sauce thickens. If it gets too thick, add a bit more milk and continue to stir. Add the mustard powder and stir it again.
Alternatives to cornflour:
1. If you are doing the egg yolk option (to go grain-free): whisk the egg together with the cold milk and add this to the melted butter. Allow the sauce to reduce and thicken. Note: If you whisk the egg into a hot sauce, it will just curdle on contact.
2. You can also thicken the sauce with xanthum gum, if using an egg yolk is daunting. Sprinkle between 3 and 5ml of xanthum gum into the sauce while whisking. It shouldn't take a lot to thicken the sauce, so go slowly!
Next, place the steamed cauliflower into an oven dish and break up the florets a little more so that there are no large chunks. Arrange the cheese, bacon, onion, chopped tomatoes and spring onions over the cauliflower.
Then pour the white sauce over the top and gently push the sauce all over the dish so that all parts are coated with the sauce (you don't just want a layer on top). Toss it around gently so that all of the bits are evenly spread.
Bake it in the oven at 200'C for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and started going crispy.
This serves four.
