Cheese sauce

Serves 3. This classic sauce can be used in pasta and cauliflower cheese dishes and also tastes great poured over chicken and baked potatoes.

Ingredients

• 250ml milk
• 1-2tbsp plain flour
• 25g butter
• 80g grated cheese (a strong cheddar works well, or try mixing with blue cheese)
• Pepper

Method

Melt butter in a saucepan and reduce heat to medium. Add the flour one spoonful at a time and whisk until it forms a thick paste. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly until the milk is incorporated and the paste becomes a sauce. Add less milk for a thicker sauce, more for a thinner sauce. If the sauce is too thin, whisk in more flour. Whisk for another 2 mins while the sauce bubbles then stir in grated cheese and add pepper to taste.

Cauliflower cheese

Chop cauliflower into small florets and boil/steam/microwave until tender. Tip into an oven proof dish, pour cheese sauce over, mix thoroughly, top with grated cheese and season. Bake at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Also works well with other cooked vegetables.