Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

Like I mentioned yesterday I have a fancy new blue camera to take pictures of food. I'm excited to have a camera that will actually focus on things. In addition, Jacob's parents got me a Dutch oven! This was the perfect gift as Alden moved out after graduation and took all his nice All-clad pots and pans with him, including the Dutch oven I used for making short ribs! The new Dutch oven has become my favorite kitchen toy, and I use it for everything. It's Martha Stewart brand, the same kind Ina Garten uses (I think), and it's blue to match my new camera.

Jacob's been begging me to make him homemade macaroni and cheese, so I made it as my new pot's inaugural dish. I kinda surprised him though by making cauliflower mac & cheese with bacon. I found the recipe on Williams-Sonoma and made a few minor alterations. Instead of pancetta, I used bacon. Instead of water and white wine, I used chicken stock. And instead of Gouda, I used full on cheddar because the comments section said it wasn't very cheesey as is.

Ingredients:

3 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
8 oz. pancetta, julienned
1 1/2 lb. cauliflower, cut into 1/2-inch florets
3 to 6 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. white wine
3 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded fontina cheese
3 cups shredded Gouda cheese
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 lb. fresh macaroni, cooked until al dente

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375ºF.

In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, melted butter, parsley, 1 tsp. of the salt and 1/2 tsp. of the black pepper.



In a 4-quart pot over medium heat, cook the pancetta until crispy, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and reserve the fat in the pot. Working in batches, add the cauliflower to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and caramelized, 10 to 12 minutes per batch, adding 1 to 3 Tbs. butter to the pot if needed. Transfer the cauliflower to a bowl. Add 2 Tbs. water to the pot and stir to scrape up the browned bits. Add to the bowl with the cauliflower.



In the same pot over medium heat, melt the remaining 3 Tbs. butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the wine and milk and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the cheeses, the remaining 2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and cream and stir until melted. Then stir in the pasta, pancetta and cauliflower. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and cook until the bread crumbs are crispy and brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Serves 10 to 12.

This recipe definitely makes enough for a large group, so invite some friends over. I had mac & cheese for lunch every day this week.

Growing up, my mom's cauliflower and cheese sauce was one of my favorite foods. And for my 17th or 18th birthday I just had my mom make a big casserole dish of that and stick a birthday candle in it. Needless to say this recipe was calling to me. I must say however, that cauliflower sauteed in bacon grease is GENIUS! Yum.

Oh! And along with the fancy cookware, Alden reclaimed his food processor. So if you're wondering why the bread crumbs look so crouton-ey, it's because I used slices of baguette and chopped them up as finely as I could with a knife. I forgot that I was food processor-less when I was doing the grocery shopping. Oops!