This recipe is very simple and uses ingredients easily available from your supermarket!

What you will need:

• Half a head of cauliflower
• One broccoli head
• Flour
• Vegan butter (we use Nuttelex)
• Plain soy milk
• Vegan cheese of your choice (We used Nature’s Kitchen for this one)
• Salt
• Pepper

First you’ll want to pre cook your broccoli and cauliflower. I often do mine on a sandwich press as you get a nice charring to the outside which gives an extra nutty flavour to your cauliflower. You can also stir-fry or boil them, though the latter I feel can reduce the full taste of your veggies.

Cook them until the are softened but still with a little bite. Set them aside in an oven suitable dish with high sides.

Next, melt about 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in a pot. Don’t have your heat too high, we don’t want to burn it. Then start adding your flour little by little. We want to form a dough like paste and eventually a doughy small ball in the pan. Keep your mixture moving as not to burn it, and feel free to take the pan off the job as you are mixing.

Once you’ve got your smallish dough like ball, we want to start adding in the soy milk. Add it in smallish increments, mixing to combine the dough with the milk. Once it has thinned a little, add a bit more milk. Keep adding until you have a smooth and not too runny white sauce.

This method means we cook the floury taste out of the flour rather than adding flour to a very funny liquid which can affect the taste of your sauce. If you prefer, it is possible to thicken a runny sauce with corn flour or corn starch, so if you end up making your sauce too thin by adding too much plant milk this can easily be remedied with a slurry of water and corn starch.

Once you have your white sauce add in a pinch of salt and pepper to taste, always remember to taste your food as your cooking! I rarely keep to recipes once I know the basic ingredients because it’s much easier to judge with your taste buds. Don’t be afraid to get creative, I treat cooking like an experiment. Sometimes things don’t go to plan but sometimes having the confidence to be a little creative can mean you find flavours you really love!

If you do want to be creative you can add in seasonings such as Italian herbs, chives, spring onion, paprika or nutmeg works very well with cheese sauces. I’ve kept it simple for this recipe but feel free to take this dish in whatever direction you like!

Once you’ve seasoned it up, add in your vegan cheese. We used a supermarket branded vegan cheese and used almost the whole 200g bag.  Save a sprinkle for the top for a crispier texture once it’s out of the oven.

Mix your cheese in to melt, keep stirring as to make sure your sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep taste testing and add in any more salt or pepper as you desire. If your sauce becomes too thick, you can add a little soy milk bit by bit to thin it our again.

Once you’re happy with your sauce, pour it over your cooked veggies, and sprinkle over the remaining shredded cheese. Pop it in the oven at about 180 for 15-20 or until your cheese is melted on top and it’s piping hot throughout.

And that’s it! Easy, cheesy cauliflower and broccoli. This makes a great side to a roast, or even as a main lunch. We had it as a delicious side for our Christmas roast but you can bulk it out with any other veggies you would like, even proteins or use it as a cheesy base for a vegetable lasagna. Once you’ve got your sauce down, it’s a versatile staple to build a variety of tasty meals!

If you liked this recipe, please let me know! I have an Instagram that I update regularly with my daily eats so if you’re interested, click to check them out and subscribe if you like what you see!

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