Cauliflower Mac And Cheese For Full GAPS

Cauliflower mac and cheese gives you tender florets coated in cheddar sauce, with a little melted cheese on top and golden edges around the baking dish. This Full GAPS version uses finished homemade cultured sour cream and drained yogurt cheese for a rich sauce with a gentle tang.

There is no macaroni in the dish. The cauliflower stays in small pieces, so you get soft vegetable florets in each spoonful rather than a smooth cauliflower purée. Serve it as a side with your main meal.

My weekdays include breakfast, homeschooling, work on our businesses, and lunch and dinner before I leave for second shift. There is no regular bulk-prep routine in place right now, and that makes cooking harder than it needs to be. For a recipe like this, the useful distinction is between making the homemade ingredients and making dinner. The sour cream and yogurt cheese need to be finished ahead. Once they are ready, you can work on the cauliflower and sauce during the same stretch of kitchen time.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
• 1 cup filtered water, for steaming fresh cauliflower, then drained away
• 1 cup homemade yogurt-culture sour cream, fully fermented for at least 24 hours and chilled
• 2 ounces homemade yogurt cheese, weighed after draining
• 8 ounces natural organic cheddar, grated and divided
• Up to ¼ cup filtered water, only as needed to thin the sauce
• Homemade unsalted butter, for greasing the baking dish

The two water amounts have different jobs. The cup goes into the covered saucepan with fresh cauliflower and is drained off afterward. The optional quarter cup belongs to the sauce. Do not pour the steaming water into the cheese sauce.

Use the thick solid left in the cloth after homemade 24-hour yogurt drains for the yogurt cheese. The pale-yellow liquid collected below is whey. Keep that separately, and weigh two ounces of the curd for this casserole. Undrained yogurt adds more liquid and does not give you the same starting texture.

The sour cream is also a completed preparation. Measure it after its long ferment and chilling time, when it has thickened. My go-to for long yogurt cultures is the Luvele. You do not need the yogurt maker running while you make the casserole; those ingredients are ready before you turn on the oven.

Grate the cheddar from a block of natural, traditionally made cheese without added starches or other additives. This helps the shreds melt into the sauce. Reserve one-quarter of the grated cheese for the top, and melt the remaining three-quarters into the sauce.

For the original batch, that means two ounces on top and six ounces in the sauce, all from the same eight-ounce amount. You are not adding an extra layer of cheese beyond the ingredient list.

How To Make Cauliflower Mac And Cheese

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Grease an 8-by-10-inch oven-safe baking dish with homemade butter. Cut the fresh cauliflower into bite-sized florets.
2. Put the cauliflower and the cup of steaming water into a large saucepan or small stockpot. Cover and bring the water to a boil. Steam for about 5 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft, then drain well.
3. Warm the cultured sour cream gently in a medium saucepan. Add the drained yogurt cheese and whisk until it loosens into the cream. Keep the heat gentle rather than bringing the cultured dairy to a hard boil.
4. Set aside one-quarter of the grated cheddar for the top. Add the remaining cheese to the warm cream mixture in small additions, stirring each one through until melted before adding more. Use only as much of the optional sauce water as needed, up to the measured quarter cup.
5. Put the drained cauliflower into a large mixing bowl. Pour the sauce over it and fold gently with a large spoon. Transfer to the greased baking dish, spread evenly and scatter the reserved cheddar over the top.
6. Bake uncovered at 375°F for about 25 minutes, until hot throughout and starting to turn golden around the edges. Spoon into six side-dish portions.

The cauliflower is softened before it reaches the baking dish. Test a thicker piece with a fork after steaming. It should be tender enough to pierce, while still holding together when you lift it. Drain thoroughly so water caught between the florets does not dilute the sauce.

The yogurt cheese starts as a thick curd. Whisk it into the gently warming cream before adding the cheddar. With cultured dairy, the flavor will be tangier than a sauce made with fresh heavy cream and packaged cream cheese.

Add the grated cheddar gradually. Wait until the shreds from one addition have melted before putting in the next. The sauce should cling to a spoon and spread over the florets when folded through. If it is too thick to coat them, stir in a little of the measured thinning water and check again.

You may not need all that water. Stop once the sauce coats the cauliflower without leaving a pool of thin liquid beneath it. Keep the spoon movements gentle when mixing so the already-soft florets remain recognizable.

The oven finishes heating the casserole and melts the reserved cheese. Look for hot sauce around the florets and lightly golden edges. The cauliflower should stay soft inside; the browning belongs mainly around the top and outside, not on every piece.

Where It Fits On GAPS

This is a Full GAPS side for people who have already introduced and tolerated its dairy ingredients. In Gut and Physiology Syndrome, homemade yogurt-culture sour cream and drained homemade soft cheese belong to the dairy introduction sequence before natural, traditionally made cheese. The cheddar needs to be an established food too.

Here, the sauce uses homemade cultured sour cream and yogurt cheese in place of fresh heavy cream and ordinary cream cheese. Have both homemade preparations fully finished before measuring. Heating them into a sauce does not replace their earlier fermentation.

This recipe contains dairy but no eggs or nut flour. It does not become an earlier Intro recipe simply by leaving off the cheese topping, since the sauce underneath still contains cheese and cultured cream.

For an earlier cauliflower dish, the Stage 2 cauliflower egg yolk soup has a different preparation with homemade meat stock. Follow that recipe’s own ingredient introductions and instructions when it fits your stage.

Serving And Storage

Serve this as six side portions alongside a main dish, such as roast chicken or beef. The florets give each spoonful some shape, but the sauce keeps the casserole soft. Use a serving spoon rather than trying to cut it into neat squares.

Allow about 20 minutes to prepare the cauliflower and sauce, followed by about 25 minutes of baking. The 45-minute estimate starts with the cultured cream, yogurt cheese and butter already made. Fermenting, draining and chilling those foods are separate jobs. If you use frozen cauliflower, allow time for it to thaw and drain before starting the casserole.

Cool cooked leftovers promptly in shallow containers, cover and refrigerate. Use within three days. Reheat until hot throughout, reaching 165°F in the center. The sauce will be thicker straight from the refrigerator and loosen as it warms.

Keep leftovers covered while reheating gently so the exposed cauliflower does not dry out. A little separation in a reheated dairy sauce can be stirred back through the hot portion. Avoid repeatedly reheating the whole dish when you only need a serving.

Recommended Equipment

Use an 8-by-10-inch glass, ceramic or suitable enameled baking dish for this batch. The cauliflower needs a covered saucepan or small stockpot, and a separate medium saucepan gives you room to melt the cheese sauce gradually. I use Le Creuset in Artichaut where it fits the job.

Have a colander ready for draining, along with a mixing bowl, whisk, large spoon, knife and chopping board. A kitchen scale measures the cauliflower, drained yogurt cheese and cheddar. You also need a liquid measure, grater and thermometer for reheating leftovers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Frozen Cauliflower?

Yes. Use the same two-pound amount, allow it to thaw and drain excess water before mixing it with the sauce. Skip the fresh-cauliflower steaming step and its separate cup of water. The optional sauce-thinning water still has its own job.

Do I Use The Whole Quarter Cup Of Water?

Only if the sauce needs it. Add a little at a time and stop when the sauce coats the florets. The steaming water is drained away and is not part of that quarter-cup allowance.

Why Does My Cheese Sauce Look Grainy?

Check the cheese and the heat before adding more water. Start with plain block cheddar that you grate yourself. Some pre-shredded cheeses have starches or other coatings that can leave the sauce clumpy. Warm the cultured cream gently, whisk in the soft cheese, and let each addition of cheddar melt before adding more.

If the sauce starts looking oily or separated, lower the heat and stir gently rather than boiling it harder. Extra water is for thinning a sauce that is too thick to coat the florets. It is not a reason to pour in the whole quarter cup at once.

Can I Make A Main-Dish Casserole Instead?

The chicken broccoli casserole with yogurt cheese already includes chicken thighs and has its own thicker sauce and quantities. Use that recipe when you want the meat and vegetables together in one baking dish.

The upcoming Full GAPS Cookbook in the WFLI shop brings everyday Full GAPS recipes together for meals across the day. Use it to plan main dishes and vegetable sides around the homemade ingredients you already have ready.