It’s not terribly interesting looking in the picture, but I PROMISE, it’s delicious. Until my Hubby tasted my Cauliflower Puree he reckoned the only way to eat cauliflower was smothered in a cheese sauce to disguise the taste. He’s changed his opinion since I made this – he loves it. You can also use this recipe to make cauliflower mash (keep reading!)
You can serve this as a side dish, in the place of cheese sauce, or simply wherever you’d usually use mashed potato. This is also fabulous over pasta with bacon and mushrooms (a great alternative to a more calorie-laden cream-based sauce). Hmmmmm. I mix this in with macaroni and call it Mac n’ Cheese for my vegetable-hating-son. He scoffs it, blissfully unaware that he is eating cauliflower. Gotcha.
(TIP: You can make this ahead of time, just restrain yourself from eating at least a quarter of it before serving time… It’s addictive. You’ve been warned!).
Notes
- If you are going to use this as a replacement for mashed potato, drain most of the liquid. If you are using this in the place of the cheese sauce, you’ll only need to drain 1/2 cup of the liquid out before pureeing it.
- Keeps for up to a week in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 whole cauliflower head, stalks removed, broken into florets
- 2.5 c milk (you can also use a mix of cream and milk)
- 1 teaspoon dried chicken/vegetable stock (e.g. Maggi)
- ½ c grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper - a couple of grinds
Instructions
- In a large sized saucepan (make sure it’s big enough to take all the cauliflower!) melt the butter. Add the onion, cook over a medium heat, stirring until the onion is soft.
- Add the garlic, cauliflower florets, milk, stock. Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat. Drain half the liquid into a jug and keep to one side*. Add Parmesan butter and salt to the cauliflower.
- Time to puree the mixture. I used a hand held stick mixer for this step but you can also use a blender or a food processor. Blitz it!
- If the mixture isn't creamy enough, add a little of the reserved liquid to get it to the desired consistency.
- Season to taste. Keep the puree warm prior to serving
