VegBox Recipes

Romanesco Cheese

Use your favourite cheeses in the sauce for this recipe. It's important that it has a good flavour, or it will taste bland against the romanesco. This recipe also works well with broccoli or cauliflower.

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 whole romanesco (also works well with broccoli)
¾ pint milk
1 heaped dessert spoon of cornflour
½ teaspoon mustard
1 bay leaf (dried)
150g cheese (e.g. Stilton, crumbled; Cheddar, grated; parmesan, grated)
salt & pepper to taste

Method

Remove the outer leaves and the chunky stalk, as you would for cauliflower.

Break the points off into medium-sized florets.
Cook until soft (up to 10 minutes for steaming, 5-8 minutes for boiling). Drain well when cooked and return to the pan, to keep warm.

While the romanesco is cooking, make the cheese sauce:
- Warm the milk in a pan.
- Add the cornflour and whisk until combined.
- Add the bay leaf.
- Heat the sauce gently, stirring regularly, until thickened.
- Cook gently for another 2 minutes, then add the mustard. Mix well. Remove the bay leaf.
- Add the cheese and stir until melted.
- Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
You can either serve the romanesco on plates, with the sauce on top, or you can mix the sauce and the romanesco together.
If desired, put the romanesco in an oven-proof dish and cover with the cheese sauce, plus a little extra grated cheese.
Grill under a pre-heated grill (medium-hot) for 5 minutes, until the cheese starts to bubble and brown.

Time From Cupboard-To-Table

20 minutes

Notes & Variations on Romanesco Cheese

If you don't have a romanesco, simply substitute cauliflower. Or broccoli, steamed for 5-6 minutes, works well too.

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