Holiday Cheesy Cauliflower

This cheesy casserole has a very mild cauliflower taste and a nice punch from the flavorful swiss and cheddar cheeses. Using fresh cauliflower and cooking it the night before helps the cauliflower flavor me nice and mild. The cheese sauce has a "secret" ingredient that helped it be thick and luxuriously velvety. It was the best cauliflower dish i've made!

Ingredients:

1 medium head of fresh cauliflower
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp coconut flour
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. I cooked the cauliflower the night before using it, as I find the strong cauliflower taste becomes milder. I just steamed it in a pan with a litttle water and salt for about 20 minutes, until soft.
2. Drain the cauliflower and place it back in the hot pan to dry a bit. Give it a rough mash with a vegetable smasher:

3. Let the cauliflower cool, then place in the refrigerator overnight until it is time to use it. (You can also use it right away, the same day if you wish)
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F
5. In a medium saucepan melt the butter, add the coconut flour and stir until dissolved. Add the mustard and stir for 30 seconds.
6. Add the heavy cream to the pan and whisk to combine. Let the cream come to a simmer and keep whisking. It will get nice and thick because of the coconut flour.
7. Lower the heat and add in 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheeses a little bit at a time whisking continuously. Reserve the other half of cheese for the top.
The sauce should look like this:

8. Combine the sauce with the mashed cauliflower and place in an 8x8 baking pan.
9. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and 1/4 cup of parmesan.
10. Bake uncovered in the oven for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

This dish is very hearty and a little goes a long way, however it's so delicious i'm sure everybody will want seconds!

This recipe yields 9 servings

4.57 Net carbs per serving

*TIPS*

This is the first time I use coconut flour as a thickener and it worked amazingly well!
Even though it is a small amount, it is enough to thicken the sauce properly.
You can not taste the coconut at all in the recipe.
Coconut flour is not induction friendly so perhaps you could leave it out or use a thickener like guar or xantham gum, or even half an ounce of cream cheese.