I remember cooking this in a dingy student flat in Chalk Farm in our little Baby Belling oven that looked like something you would take camping rather than have in your home! Every time I see Rachel Khoo’s Little Paris Kitchen, I’m transported right back there!
This recipe is so cheap to make and yet it’s packed with goodies and really has a comfort value. If I was feeling extravagant I sometimes added bits of bacon or ham and on poorer days a can of spam of corned beef!
With the cheese and potato the cauliflower disappears and yet it retains all of its goodness because it’s been steamed. This isn’t gourmet cooking but there’s 4 of your 5-a-day in this.
So you will need:
4 large potatoes (King Edwards or Caras are my favourites for mash) peeled and diced into 1inch cubes
1 head of cauliflower or 5 handfuls of frozen cauliflower
50g butter
200g cheddar cheese, grated
2 tins of beans
1 tin of sweet corn
4 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
2 large tomatoes- sliced
Serves 4
Preheat your oven to about 200C
1. Boil the potatoes in a large pan of salted water (I generally don’t do salt but I’m afraid mash needs it).
2. Chop about an inch off the bottom of the cauliflower stalk and remove all leaves then cut the cauliflower, including any stalk into about 12 pieces and place in a steamer over a medium heat.
3. Put the sweet potatoes in the steamer above the cauliflower, cover and steam both for about 10 minutes or tender.
4. Drain any liquid from the sweetcorn.
5. Mash the sweet potato with a little of the butter.
6. Mix the mashed sweet potato with the sweetcorn and beans and put in an oven proof dish.
7. Mash the cauliflower and potatoes together with the remaining butter (add a little more if needed or some milk or leftover cream).
8. Mix half the cheese with the potato/cauliflower mash then spoon the mash mixture over the beans and corn.
9. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and arrange tomato slices on top of that. A dash of Worcestershire sauce over the top is good but maybe not for some picky eaters.
10. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes when the cheese should be golden on top and the beans bubbling away underneath.
