Claire's Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon & Chicken Stock

Preparation time 10 mins

Cooking time 25 mins

Serves 4

• 160g streaky bacon cut into lardons
• 1 clove garlic finely sliced
• 3 shallots finely sliced
• 1 large head of cauliflower cut into chunks
• 350ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• seasoning
• 250g cheddar - we used Trethowan's Dairy Pitchfork Cheddar

1. Add the vegetable oil and bacon to a large frying pan and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen roll until later. Leave the bacon grease in the pan

2. Add the shallots, garlic, and cauliflower to the pan and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes ensuring they don't stick to the bottom

3. Pour in the chicken stock, add the butter, add seasoning to taste and re-add the bacon, reducing the heat to low. Cover the pan and allow to steam for 10 to 15 minutes until the cauliflower has soaked up nearly all the stock. It's nice to keep some of the stock - we find if it has some liquid form it can be used instead of a gravy. Turn the grill on to warm up at this point

4. Remove the cover and stir in 3/4 of the cheese, replace the cover and allow it to melt in for a couple of minutes. Place all the ingredients in an oven safe dish and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place under the grill for about 5 minutes or until the cheese on top has turned brown and bubbly

5. Enjoy with your roast dinner!