Saturday, March 2, 2013

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

A lot of us like mac and cheese. In my opinion, homemade mac and cheese tasted better than preparing them from a box. Even better, this recipe added cauliflower, which blend very well with the mac and cheese . If you want a vegetarian version, you can skip the pancetta.




















Ingredients
* 8 slices pancetta
*1 large head of cauliflower
*1 pound dried macaroni
*2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
*4 thick slices of country bread
*a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
*2 cloves garlic, crushed
*1 cup creme fraiche
*Parmesan cheese, to serve

Directions
1. Preheat oven on to 425F.  Lay the pancetta in a dutch oven, uncovered, put on the top shelf of the oven.
2. Ged rid of any tatty outer leaves from the cauliflower, then trim off the tough base of the stalk and quarter the head. Put in a large saucepan, core downwards, with the pasta, on a high heat. Season with a pinch of salt, drizzle over a little olive oil, then stir and cook following the package instructions, cover the saucepan with lid.
3. In a food processor, fit the standard blade attachment, then get your pancetta out of the oven and blitz in the processor with the bread, rosemary, and a some olive oil until you have a coarse breadcrumb consistency.
4. Reserve 1-2 cups of hot pasta water. Drain the pasta and cauliflower. Pour into the dutch oven you cooked your pancetta in, and put over a low heat. Add the reserved pasta water. Add garlic, creme fraiche and sharp Cheddar cheese, gently breaking up the cauliflower with tongs or a potato masher. Have a taste and correct the seasoning. Spread out evenly and scatter over the breadcrumbs. Put on the top shelf of the oven for about 8 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Serve the mac with Parmesan.

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