Serves 2-4

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 25 min

500g cauliflower florets
1 thick slice white bread
10g flat-leaf parsley
25g butter
25g flour
1 tbsp smooth
Dijon mustard
250ml milk
150g grated Gruyère or mature Cheddar cheese or a mixture
200g cherry tomatoes

METHOD

Heat the oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6. Bring 10cm salted water to boil in a lidded pan. Add the cauliflower, return to boil, reduce the heat slightly, cover and boil for 6 min or until the cauli is just al dente. Reserve 4 tbsp cooking water and drain the cauli. Cut the crusts off the bread, tear into pieces and blitz to make crumbs. Add the parsley leaves and blitz again to chop and mix. Tip into a bowl and mix with 4 tbsp grated cheese. Melt the butter in the cauliflower pan, stir in the flour and, when dissolved into the butter, stir in the mustard and cauli cooking water. Gradually beat in the milk with a wooden spoon, using a globe whisk if it turns lumpy. Adjust the heat so the sauce simmers. Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 min. Stir in the remaining cheese until melted. Mix the cauliflower into the sauce and tip into a gratin-style dish, scraping out all the sauce with a rubber spatula. Level, then scatter, the breadcrumb mixture over the top. Add the tomatoes round the edge and bake for 20 min or until the top is crusty and the tomatoes soft.

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