Sometime, there are some hardly conceivable blends of tastes which, once tried become simply obvious. It is by chance, guided by intuition and inspiration, that I discovered the blend that you’re about to discover in this delicious recipe. This spicy, sweet and sour, coloured gratin highlights in a very subtle way the cauliflower, a real treat !

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 45 minutes

Ingredients (4 persons) :
– 50g butter
– 50g fine wheat semolina
– 30g flour
– 650ml+10ml milk (could be cow milk of vegetable milk, for example rice-coco milk is perfect here)
– 1 cauliflower
– water
– 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
– 3 garlic cloves
– 1 handful walnuts’ kernels
– 1 handful raisins
– 100g feta cheese
– 1 nice tablespoon of curry
– 2 teaspoons grounded nutmeg
– salt, pepper

Start up with the Béchamel sauce. Contrary to my previous gratins, I decided here to add semolina to the classic roux. Begin by putting the butter in a saucepan. Let it melt, then add the flour in one go. Stir for a few seconds to mix it up, then add the semolina. Mix it regularly and let it colour a little bit, looking closely so that the roux does not get too dark.

Add 650ml of milk in about 3 to 4 stages. Each time you add milk, stir regularly the Béchamel and let it thicken a little bit. Once all of the milk is incorporated, add the nutmeg, some salt and pepper, and the raisins, after washing them. Let it to low fire for about 3 more minutes.

After trimming the cauliflower, boil it for about 10 minutes in a big pan full of water, where you will also add a dash of apple cider vinegar. Start preheating the oven at 180ºC (thermostat 6).

Once the cauliflower is ready – it should still be a little bit hard -, put it aside, out of water. Mince the garlic and throw it in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil at medium heat. After 1 to 2 minutes, add the cauliflower. Let it cook at medium heat, the add the curry, as well as some more salt and pepper. Mix while softly crushing the cauliflower, let it 5 more minutes on the fire.

Put the pan’s content in a gratin dish. Put the pan back on the fire, and add the walnuts to it. Let them brown a little bit for about 30 seconds, then throw them over the cauliflower. Cover it all with the Béchamel sauce.

In a bowl, crush the feta, then add 10ml of milk and a dash of olive oil to it. Mix vigorously until it has the consistency of a soft paste, then spread on top of the gratin.

Bake for at least 35 minutes, serve with some salad and a perfectly seasoned grilled chicken breast.

Also published on Medium.

This post is also available in: French