Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Cauliflower Cheese Tart

Do you know that Cauliflower comes in yellow, orange, green and purple varieties besides the most common white ones?  I have seen perhaps the light green ones but have not seen the rest of the colours and am actually quite curious to find the purple and orange varieties, which I'm doubtful I can find it over here at all, at least not in my area.  Cauliflowers are packed with vitamins and nutrients and have no fat whatsoever, however do not eat more than 4 or 5 servings per week as it contains purines, which are broken down by the body to produce urid acid. Too much of urid acid in the body, could eventually lead to gout. Well, eat moderately and enjoy its benefits to the fullest! To know more about the health benefits of Cauliflowers, just google for info, you'll be surprised at how much health benefits this little veggie contains.  OK,  let's get on to the recipe.


I have been wanting to make Cauliflower Cheese Tart ever since I saw the recipe in a magazine. Many times I have bought some cauliflower for this purpose and each time it ended up stir-fried in my wok. But not this time! 


Do you like Cauliflower? We do! 


This is a lovely tart, it's meatless, only chunks of cauliflower, eggs and cheese. The recipe calls for a small amount of Grana Padano Cheese to be scattered on top, I have no idea what cheese it is, so I replaced that with Cheddar Cheese instead. I made my own shortcrust pastry, which you can get the recipe here, from my previous post, Cheese and Onion Quiche.


This is lovely for an afternoon lunch.  


Though this is lovely as it is, some pieces of chopped ham or bacon pieces added to the filling would be very delicious!


If you love cauliflower and cheese, then I'm sure you would like this, and if your household have picky eaters, perhaps some addition of bacon or chopped ham might be a good idea! 


I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sunday hosted by Couscous & Consciousness
Bake With Bizzy hosted by Bizzy Bakes


Cauliflower Cheese Tart
(adapted from "Olive" Magazine, December 2010 Issue)
shortcrust pastry (350gm) (I made my own shortcrust pastry, here)
cauliflower, 1 small head, broken into florets
2 tbsp plain flour
25gm butter
250ml milk
75gm cheddar cheese
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 eggs
20gm grated grana padano (I use Cheddar cheese)

  1. Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Roll out the pastry to 20p thickness then line a 23cm tart tin. Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans then bake for 15 minutes. Take out the paper and beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
  2. Cook the cauliflower in salted boiling water until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Drain well.
  3. Put the flour, butter and milk in a pan. Heat, whisking all the time until it comes to a simmer and begins to thicken. Cook for 3 minutes then add the cheese and stir until melted. Cool a little then stir in the mustard and eggs. Add the cauliflower and stir well, then season.
  4. Spoon the mix into the tart case, scatter over the grana padano, then return to the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

37 comments:

  1. Looks yummy! Have never seen cauliflower in any other colour other than the white one.
    Yes we love cauliflower and yes we love cheese, that means I'll be making this soon :D.
    xoxo
    Anuja

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  2. Your tart is nicely baked till golden brown! First time of seeing cauliflower tart. Thanks for sharing :)

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  3. Ooo... cauliflower tart sounds really good.
    There are purple ones in Camerons, I've bought them before more than 7 years ago. There are also the light green ones.
    Romanesco is available in Fresh Boulevard USJ1.

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  4. omg, this is looking so delicious. I am feeling hungry. Interesting recipe.

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  5. I bet it can be frozen and pulled out for a quick quiche-like luncheon.

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  6. Interesting combination I have to say but it sure does looks yummy with the golden crusty cheese top! My family lives savory pies/ tarts, thanks for introducing us another way of enjoying it. Yes, I bet some ham or bacon will bring out the sweetness of the cauliflower. :))

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  7. This sounds so wonderful. Definitely love to try this cheese tart as I love cauliflower very much. Thanks for sharing :)

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  8. sounds great... loved your filling.. it has great colour too...

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  9. Omy I love cauliflower and this tart look wonderful; amazing recipe!

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  10. The tart looks soooo delicious... and I love cauliflower too... tried growing the purple cauliflower once... you can see a pic of it here... http://potagery.blogspot.jp/2010/03/vegetable-bed-preparation.html

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  11. Beautiful! I love cauliflower and cheese anything!

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  12. looks absolutely delicious..very tempting pictures!
    Spicy-Aroma

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  13. Yea..I love cauliflower and this tart sounds good. Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

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  14. C would love this..send some over.

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  15. eileen@hundred eighty degreesWednesday, June 06, 2012

    Wow, this is so special. I was unsure how would that turn out until I see the pictures. So convincingly delicious!

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  16. Hi Joyce!Looks absolutely delicious!!!!!

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  17. Wow! This looks so delicious! I love cauliflower!

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  19. I've never been able to bring myself to buy any other cauliflower but white. I probably should give the others a try but, not with this cheesy plate of goodness. OMGoodness, Joyce I adore cauliflower!!!

    Thank you so much for sharing...

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  20. Joyce, I normally cook cauliflower with broccoli for once a week! Next time I'll take the picture of the purple cauliflower & show you ok? I can't recall whether I've seen orange cauliflower b4.

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  21. Grana Padano is similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, but a great cheese in its own right. Cheddar works just as well as you have discovered but if you would like to order it online for future attempts then we're more than happy to help. Enjoy the tart! :) http://www.internationalcheese.co.uk/products/grana-padano

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  22. Absolutely delicious tarts..

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  23. i'm not a great cauliflower eater but i think i dont mind having them in my tarts..maybe i will fall in love with them:)

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  24. Cauliflower is in season now in Australia and we eat them at least once or twice a week. This tart has a beautiful combination! To me, cauliflower and cheese are great partners in food :D

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  25. Your tart looks fantastic. And, I didn't know cauliflower came in all those colors!

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  26. I would never thought of making a tart out of cauliflowers lol! Looks amazing! I think my boys would appreciate it more with bacons thrown in too!

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  27. What a beautiful tart! You do not see enough dishes using cauliflower...delicious!

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  28. Kena bookmark ni. I think my youngest will love this. I tried to grow purple cauliflower before but it gave me green-like brocolli head instead. Two different seeds supplier purple cauliflower seeds gave the same result. Maybe my place was not cool enough.

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  29. Oh wow, does this ever look good. I don't eat enough cauliflower as I'm not that fond of it, however, I would definitely eat it in this tart. I love anything with cheese and this looks fabulous!

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  30. Oh.my.god. That looks AMAZING, have just bookmarked it to try, and followed you on GFC so I can have lots more of your loveliness pop up in my blogger dashboard :)

    http://rosieposiespuddingsandpies.blogspot.co.uk/

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  31. Joyce, this is a wonderful looking cauliflower tart. Cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables, especially this time of year when there is mostly only root vegetables around. I've seen the lime green and purple cauliflower, but never yellow or orange - something to look out for.

    Thanks for sharing at Cookbook Sundays xo

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  32. Made this last night, smelled SO good; I had to let mine cook a lot longer because I let my cauliflower cool down but it still turned out golden and gorgeous at the end. Having it for breakfast - yum, it's a keeper! Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, I'm glad that you've enjoyed the cauliflower tart. Thank you for stopping by! Will be visiting you soon! Have a nice day!

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  33. Hay nice cauliflower cheese recipe .i thing it is more testy food.i do not wait for this.

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