This recipe marries two of the greatest things in the world. Both are cheese based (aren’t many great things?), both are comfort food, and both bring on fond memories for me. Cauliflower cheese was my absolute favourite thing as a kid. Well one of my favourite’s, a high school friend’s brother once had a whole head of cauliflower covered in cheese sauce and baked in the oven as a birthday cake so I would dare say it’s actually his favourite thing haha. As a teenager I was obsessed with macaroni and cheese, actually I still am, there may be no greater comfort food. But I can’t sit here and pretend that mac’n’cheese is particularly good for me – not that everything I eat has to be! However, that doesn’t mean I can’t try to make it a little more nutritious. And I think I have… even better, it’s just as comforting and delicious.

This is a very simple recipe. It is really just a variation on one of my existing recipe’s with a couple of extra steps. minimal extra ingredients and 20 minutes more time.

Serves 4 as side dish

Ingredients

1/2 quantity cauliflower sauce (replace the ricotta with 60g strong cheddar)

1 pinch of nutmeg

250g short pasta, penne or elbows works well here. I usually use buckwheat or spelt.

3 Tbs bread crumbs

1 Tbs almond meal

1 tsp sesame seeds

2 Tbs freshly grated parmesan

1 Tbs chives

Directions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Make the cauliflower sauce, add extra cheddar cheese and nutmeg. While the cauliflower cooks, bring a large pot of generously salted boiling water to the boil and cook pasta as per packet instructions.

In a bowl combine breadcrumbs, almond meal, sesame seeds and parmesan. Season.

Drain pasta, combine  with sauce and stir to make sure the pasta is evenly coated. Pour into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over the top. Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Serve with a green salad covered in avocado dressing and feel all virtuous about it (*wink*)!

HH. x