Cauliflower Puree

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Who needs boring old Mashed Potatoes as a side when you can jazz things up with Cauliflower! This is a super simple and delicious Cauliflower Puree recipe that requires very little effort for a huge reward

The good old Cauliflower has had a massive resurgence in popularity over the last few years. With good reason too! It is an extremely versatile vegetable when it comes to cooking. It holds up exceptionally well to steaming, frying, deep frying (drool!), stir frying, roasting, and in this case – poaching

When we’re talking about poaching we’re not mucking around. This isn’t your run of the mill poaching recipe where you throw an ingredient into a bunch of water. No way! We’re talking about poaching this delicious vegetable in Butter and Cream! The Butter and Cream is what gives this Cauliflower Puree it’s indulgent, yet silky smooth finished result that we know you’ll just love

Inspiration for this delicious Cauliflower Puree

This recipe is inspired from a brilliant dish – Braised Beef Cheeks with Pedro Ximenez Sauce from one of our favorite restaurants in the world, Movida. The slow cooked Beef Cheeks are paired with this amazing Cauliflower Puree which heightens the entire dish to stratospheric levels! It is truly a dish that tastes like it’s made by a professional, yet is super simple to create at home

How to make perfect Cauliflower Puree

For this recipe you don’t need many ingredients at all. Only 4 in total to be exact. Cauliflower, Cream, Butter, and Salt. We use 1 head of Cauliflower, which provides a very generous yield, easily enough to feed four people if eating this Cauliflower Puree as a side dish

Cut the Cauliflower into florets. No need to cut them too fine but cut them up enough so that you’ll easily be able to fit them all into a medium sized saucepan. You can use most of the stalk, as there’s plenty of flavor in there. Just avoid using the root at the base of the Cauliflower as this can be quite bitter

Once your Cauliflower is all cut up, simply add it to a Saucepan with all the other ingredients. Cover and poach / steam the ingredients over a low heat for about 30 – 35 minutes. We recommend the extra time and the low heat over a faster, higher heat poach. You don’t want the dairy to overheat in the pan, as this will cause it to curdle, ruining the dish. Therefore, a low and slow poach is the best approach for a silky-smooth, perfectly cooked Cauliflower Puree

Once the Cauliflower is lovely and tender, take it off the heat and allow it to cool a little bit. The next step is literally throwing all the ingredients into a blender and blending until smooth. We’d recommend giving the Cauliflower and liquid about 10 – 15 minutes to cool a little before blending. Blending anything at a high temperature is fraught with risk. The last thing you want is Cauliflower Puree to explode out of the blender and all over the kitchen!

Simply Blend and it’s ready to serve

You only need to blend the Puree for about 1 minute before all the ingredients have combined and a beautiful puree is formed. Don’t over blend, as you still want the Puree to have a lovely, light texture

Once the dish has blended, check for consistency and flavor. If you find that the Puree is a little bit too runny, you can always add it back into the Saucepan and reduce slightly. The portions for this recipe should be right as is, but some Cauliflower may be watery, in which case about 5 minutes in the pan over a medium / low heat should do the trick

What are the best uses for this dish

The Cauliflower Puree will pair well with any kind of meat dish or can be used as a base to create some delicious Soups such as our Cauliflower, Cheddar and Roasted Garlic Soup recipe. Just think of this dish as a substitute for Mashed Potatoes and see where your creativity takes you. It could even be used to create a Shepherd’s Pie! In fact, we may need to try that recipe out so watch this space

As a side dish is where Cauliflower Puree stands on its own. Here are a few of our favorite recipes that we recommend serving alongside a side of this wonderful dish:

• Pork Chops and Green Beans
• Filet au Poivre
• Crispy Pork Belly with Szechuan Pepper
• Pork Chop Milanese with Parmesan Crust
  
  

Cauliflower Puree Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 head of Cauliflower, chopped
• 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 200 ml / 6 fl. oz. Heavy Cream
• 1 tbsp. Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Combine the Cauliflower, Butter, Heavy Cream and Salt in a medium saucepan
2. Cover and then place over low heat on the stovetop
3. Cook for 35 minutes until the Cauliflower is beautiful and tender, then transfer to a blender
4. Blend the mixture together until a smooth consistency is formed. This will probably take about a minute or so. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary
5. Serve as is! If you would like a thicker texture you can place the Puree back into a saucepan and reduce over medium / low heat until your desired consistency is achieved
   
   

You can do so much with this amazing Cauliflower Puree so just let your creativity run wild. Any amazing dishes you create, please feel free to share them with us on our Instagram page here. Also, check out our Beef Dinners page here for some brilliant dishes to pair with this yummy Cauliflower Puree

Happy Cooking!