Cauliflower Mac & Cheese - low carb

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

Silky Cottage-Cheese Béchamel • Coastal Cheddar • Pecorino • Nutmeg

Makes: about 4–6 servings

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INGREDIENTS

For the Sauce

1 Tbsp butter
2–3 Tbsp flour
1 small clove garlic, very finely minced
About 2–2½ cups house cashew milk, room temperature
Freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt 

Cottage Cheese Enrichment

About 1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg

Cheese

Coastal cheddar, grated — add by instinct until it tastes properly cheesy
Pecorino, finely grated — enough for a salty, savory punch

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METHOD

Make the roux.
Melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and flour.

Stir and cook until the flour is cooked and the garlic smells fragrant and wonderful—you know the smell.

Add the cashew milk.
Add the room-temperature cashew milk gradually, stirring continuously in your familiar figure-8 motion.

Keep stirring until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon. Don't worry about a precise temperature or exact timing—the sauce will tell you when it's ready.

Add salt, white pepper if using, and a generous grating of fresh nutmeg.

Prepare the cottage cheese mixture.
While the béchamel is thickening, blend the cottage cheese and egg until completely smooth.

There should be no cottage-cheese curds remaining.

Temper the cottage cheese.
Remove the béchamel from the heat.

Whisk a little of the warm béchamel into the cottage cheese mixture. Add another little bit and whisk again.

Then slowly stir the cottage-cheese mixture back into the saucepan.

Gently heat.
Return the saucepan to very low heat, stirring constantly, just until the sauce becomes silky and slightly thicker.

Do not boil. The egg is now part of the sauce.

Add the cheese.
Turn the heat to low or remove from the heat.

Add grated Coastal cheddar, stirring until melted. Add Pecorino to taste.

The Coastal cheddar provides the recognizable mac-and-cheese flavor; the Pecorino gives the sauce extra salty, savory depth so you don't need as much total cheese.

Taste and adjust the salt and nutmeg.

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FOR THE CAULIFLOWER

Cut cauliflower into bite-sized florets.

Add to a steamer pot and cook until tender but not too soft.

Place the cooked cauliflower in a baking dish and pour the cheese sauce over it. Gently toss to coat.

Top with a modest layer of grated Coastal cheddar and Pecorino.

Bake until bubbling and finish under the broiler until beautifully browned.

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