Cauliflower cheese spaghetti | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why does my cauliflower cheese sauce separate? ›

Cooking the cauliflower cheese at too high a temperature can sometimes cause the cheese to split, resulting in a slightly oily, grainy texture. What is this? A split sauce can also be avoided by removing the sauce from the heat before adding the cheese.

It can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to cook. It is possible to freeze cauliflower cheese but unfortunately the sauce can sometimes turn thin and sligtly watery on defrosting, so we prefer not to freeze the dish if at all possible.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Trim away just the tatty outer leaves and the end of the stalk from the cauliflower, then halve, slice into 3cm wedges and sit them in a roasting tray. Toss with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 35 minutes, or until beautifully golden and tender.

If it is completely broken, add equal volumes of oil and liquid. Start with a little bit and keep adding until the sauce comes back together into an emulsion. This may take a few iterations. You can use stock or wine for this but water works just fine if that's all you have around.

If you're planning to roast the cauliflower whole or slice it into steaks, slice off the thick stem at the base. Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs.

A cheese sauce usually splits because it has been overheated and oil separates from the cheese. Remove it from the heat, add a little cream and whisk it until it is smooth again.

It is most likely that it is the cheese in the sauces that is causing the sauces to curdle, or split. In particular some types of Cheddar cheese can let out a fair amount of oil during cooking at higher temperatures and this won't mix very well with the sauce in the dish.

You can try to stir the sauce from time to time while heating, so that the sauces do not separate during heating. You can also try adding some water or stock to the sauce to maintain its consistency. Finally, slow and gentle heating of sauces over low heat can also prevent separation.

Loose heads or buttoning (very small head or several small heads) Buttoning cauliflower can be caused by young plants being exposed to several days of freezing temperatures. It can also be caused by a lack of water or nitrogen, or waiting too long to harvest.