This curried cauliflower cheese pie turned out utterly, incredibly delicious. It’s an amazing vegetarian master piece to impress your friends and family.
This recipe is from « OTK : Ottolenghi Test Kitchen – shelf love », new Ottolenghi’s cookbook co-wrote with Noor Murad. They described this pie as a « molten hot cheese lava », I couldn’t find better words to describe how indulgent, creamy and very delicious this pie is.

It’s true that is very easy to prepare, but I have to say that it takes some time. So I decided to make it Friday for lunch as a weekend project. The weekend in Dubai starts Friday afternoon until Sunday, yes 2 days and half.
How to make this stunning curried cauliflower cheese pie ?
First the cauliflower florets are seasoned with curry, salt, black pepper and a little of olive oil, then roasted for about 20 minutes. The curry brings this Indian touch to the dish which I loved.
Meanwhile, the sauce béchamel was made. Once it’s ready you add the garlic, English mustard, grated mature cheddar as you can use any cheese like Gruyère, comté….and some salt to season. Let you imagine how much this béchamel is delicious .
When the cauliflower and béchamel are ready, it’s time for you to cover a springform cake tin with buttered filo sheets. Make sure to use a very good quality of filo.
Cover the base with half of the béchamel, then add the roasted cauliflower florets. The remaining béchamel is added on top to cover all the cauliflower florets. The pie is baked for 30 minutes, after that the springform’s side was released and the pie was returned to the oven for another 20 minutes so the pie is crunchy and golden all over.
Ottolenghi and Noor suggest to serve the pie with a simple salad, ( lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, radish…. And very easy dressing (lemon juice, olive oil,salt and black pepper)).
This pie is crunchy, cheesy and very delicious. It’s an impressive vegetarian dish, definitely a winner.
If you are a cauliflower and Indian flavours lover check this « Mustardy cauliflower cheese gratin » from « Simple ». It’s one of my favourite ways to make and eat cauliflower.