Skinny bacon and cauliflower cheese

Updated on 
17 July, 2022

Quark cauliflower cheese

This easy cauliflower cheese is not only a simple meal to make for those of you who are newer to the cooking game and wants to add a new dish to their abilities. This recipe uses a low fat cheese sauce to create a healthy cauliflower cheese that can be made vegetarian friendly and is one that you will want to share with friends.

At only 2 syns per serving and the ability to serve up to 6 people, this is one of those recipes that families looking to be healthier can happily enjoy. This is because of the slimming world cheese sauce that is both delicious and a portion of food you will want more of,

What Is Quark

It is a kind of cheese that is most commonly used by dieters as a healthier alternative to creams and yoghurts. This is why it works as a perfect, healthy ingredient in this slimming world cauliflower cheese recipe as it is low in both calories and fat.

Ingredients

  • 1 large cauliflower
  • 100 ml semi skimmed milk (use any milk you like but for the healthier version of this recipe, stick to semi skimmed)
  • 1 chicken stock pot
  • 1 tbsp of cornflour
  • 500 g quark cheese
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 50 g grated parmesan cheese
  • 6 chopped spring onions
  • Approximately 3 rations of bacon

The Cooking Method

Sart by adding some hot water to a pan and adding salt. Put this pan on a medium heat so that you have readily available boiling water for when you need it. You also need to set your oven to gas mark 5 so that it is warm enough to cook your meal as and when you need it.

Next, you are going to want to properly prep your ingredients starting with the cauliflower. To do this you need to split your cauliflower in florets that look like tiny trees and wash them down to clean them.

Once they are mostly dry, blanch the florets in a pan of boiling water for roughly 5 minutes. Stir them around every so often until they are soft enough to poke a fork through. Take the cauliflower out and drain it well.

While that is draining, get an ovenproof dish ready and arrange the dry vegetable to cover as much of the dish as possible. Set this aside once done.

Now it is time for the cauliflower cheese sauce. To make this, add the quark, milk, stock pot, cut up bacon and mustard to a pan that is on low heat. Season this with salt, pepper and parsley before you mix everything together. Start to slowly bring the food to a simmer.

As any professional chef will tell you, you will not know good food until you taste it so do not be afraid to taste your sauce at this point. If you need to make adjustments to your seasoning then now is the time to do so before you add in the cornflour and a little cold water as to thicken the cheese sauce.

You want it thick enough to not be over cooked and thin enough to cover the whole of your cauliflower.

Pour your cheese sauce over the cauliflower and add some chopped spring onions and your parmesan cheese to the top of it to really finish off the recipe. Place your food in the oven to bake.

It will take roughly half an hour to be properly cooked but this will vary depending on well blanched your cauliflower is. Once the top is starting to brown, it is ready for serving.

And there you have it, one of the easiest and quickest cauliflower cheese recipes that adhere to your diet with ease.

How Can I Customise This Recipe?

Even though this is a recipe you will want to use again and again, it does not hurt to customise your cauliflower cheese to suit your palette better.

If you do not like quark then there is nothing stopping you from using fat free natural yoghurt. While this pay make the calorie count a little bit higher, it will add a smoother texture to the cheese sauce.

You could also use onions ( I prefer red onions) to add a little bit more flavour to your sauce and to add another vegetable to the dish. In order to add these in you will need to fry them off before you cut you start the rest of your cauliflower cheese as there is no other part in the recipe that requires you to fry something off.

While this will add time and effort to making this recipe, it may be more than worth it in the end due to the additional flavour and that extra crunch.

Another customizable option is the cheese that you use to top off your cauliflower cheese. Like many other recipes, this one uses parmesan however another popular cheese topping is cheddar cheese. Again, while this will add extra calories it will make all the difference to the taste and may better suit you.

Jennifer
Jennifer is a certified nutritionist and weight loss coach with a Master's in Nutrition from Cambridge. With over 10 years experience, she shares healthy recipes and science-backed slimming tips on SheCooksSheEats to help people reach their wellness goals. Jennifer stays up-to-date by regularly attending conferences and continuing her nutrition education. She aims to provide research-backed advice to inspire balanced, happy living.
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