Cauliflower Mac 'N Cheese

By B1ondie

Ingredients

• 8 slices of bacon
• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 500 g dried macaroni
• 250 g mature Cheddar cheese
• 4 thick slices of country bread
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 x 250g tub of sour cream
• Parmesan cheese, to serve

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 220 C/425 F
Lay the bacon in a roasting tray (approx. 30 x 25cm, or large enough to bake the pasta in) and put on the top shelf of the oven. Get 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 down, with the pasta, on a high heat. Cover with boiling water, filling and reboiling the kettle
if necessary. Season with a good pinch of salt, drizzle over a little olive oil, then stir and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid askew.
Grate the Cheddar in the food processor and tip into a bowl. Fit the standard blade attachment, then get your bacon out of the oven and blitz in the processor with the bread, rosemary leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil until you have a coarse breadcrumb consistency.
Put a colander over a large bowl to catch the pasta water, then drain the pasta and cauliflower. Tip into the roasting tray you cooked your bacon in, and put over a low heat. Add 400ml (or just under a pint) of the reserved pasta water from the bowl. Crush in the 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic
and mix in the sour cream and grated Cheddar, gently breaking up the cauliflower with tongs or a potato masher. Have a taste and correct the seasoning. It should be nice and loose; if not, add another splash of the pasta water.
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.