Cauliflower Macaroni & Cheese

Today I was feeling very uninspired as to what to make for dinner. I opened the fridge and discovered I has a head of cauliflower that I had bought on the weekend but didn't get around to eating. I grabbed my "Jamie's Food Revolution" cook book and went to the index and looked up cauliflower. I like this cook book for a few reasons. One is that the recipes are basic and generally have few ingredients. Second is that it has great pictures. Now this recipe and many in the book call for Creme Fraiche. It is actually quite an expensive item in Canada. You can make your own with regular cream & buttermilk but it isn't something I use too often or too much of due to the high fat content so tonight I simply replaced the cup of creme fraiche with half a cup of low fat sour cream & half a cup of whipping cream. I served this with a fresh green salad.

The dish was a hit and Connor even approved and she is not a big fan of cauliflower. Rick already has dibs on the leftovers for his lunch tomorrow.

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower broken into florets
2 cups of grated cheese such as Cheddar or Gruyere ( I used extra old Cheddar)
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
salt
1 500gr pack of pasta ( macaroni, penne etc...)
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and the cauliflower and cook according to the pasta directions. Meanwhile place the cheeses, sour cream & whipping cream in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water ( a la double boiler style ). Carefully whisk every so often until the cheese is melted. Add the parsley and season with salt & pepper. Drain the pasta/cauliflower and reserve 2 cups of the pasta water. Return the pasta/cauliflower the pot and stir in the cheese sauce. If it is too thick you can thin it with some of the pasta water. At this point you can either serve it as is or finish it under the broiler to make it crispy & golden on top. To do this place the pasta in a casserole dish add some extra pasta water and place under the broiler for approx 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.