Vegan Cheesy Whole Cauliflower

I think cauliflower might be my favourite veg, especially when covered in vegan cheese! This dish has always been a favourite on Christmas day, so I had to make a vegan version.

Serves 4

Cooks in 45 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower washed and stemmed
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Cheese Sauce (option 1)

• 100g cashews
• 4 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 100ml vegetable stock
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. turmeric
• Pinch sea salt and pepper

Cheese Sauce (option 2)pictured

• 1 tbsp. vegan butter
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 400ml almond milk/soya
• 4 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Pinch of sea salt and pepper

Topping
• 20g fresh parsley diced
• 60g toasted flaked almonds



Method

• Preheat oven to 190°C
• Prepare a flat baking tray and place on the head of cauliflower standing up right.
• Drizzle over the olive oil covering the full head. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes until completely tender and golden around the edges.
• While this is cooking you can prep your cheesy béchamel sauce.
• For the cashew cheese blend the ingredients into a smooth sauce using a Nutri Bullet or food processor.
• For the béchamel, in a saucepan over a medium heat add the vegan butter, the flour stir into a paste, cook for a minute.
• Add in the milk 50ml at a time continuously stirring to ensure no lumps form.
• Keep adding the milk until the 400ml is used up, keep over low heat stirring consistency until the mix has reached a creamy, smooth sauce. Use a non-electric balloon whisk if you still have any lumps to get them out.
• Stir in the nutritional yeast, Dijon and season.
• The longer you leave this sitting the thicker it will get ( if you find your sauce is too thick after leaving it for too long simply just add a tad more milk to loosen it up)
• Pour over the baked cauliflower and top with herbs and flaked almonds. Now it’s ready to serve.