Cheesy Cauliflower is filled with smokey speck ham and sharp cheddar cheese for a wonderfully complex flavor and oven roasted until browned and blubbing. Serve it as a side dish or as an entrée with a green vegetable or a salad. Leave out the ham for a completely vegetarian dish!
Speck Ham Cheesy Cauliflower
This Speck Ham Cheesy Cauliflower recipe is so quick and easy, plus it’s on the table in 30 minutes.! Oven roasted until it’s all hot and bubbling and is just like creamy mac and cheese, but uses healthy fresh cauliflower instead of pasta.
Guess what I started on Monday? A 10 day whole food detox plan and it doesn’t include anything that is in this recipe! Actually, it does include fresh cauliflower but doesn’t include anything fun, like sugar, potato chips, dairy, or alcohol. Oh yeah and you have to sit down for this one…no caffeine for 10 days.
No joke. Not having my daily caffeine is literally enough to drive me over the edge. I like my 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day and especially love a large mug of it first thing in the morning. Not gonna get it any of that on this detox.
Although, I guess that’s the point of a detox, right? Purging the system of all the daily nonsense we put into it so it works better. Well, after 10 days, I’m indulging in this cheesy cauliflower with a ton of pork and not thinking twice about it.
What is Speck Ham?
Speck is a dense, boneless ham that is rubbed with a salt mixture containing spices like juniper and bay leaves and cured for 2-3 weeks. It is then lightly smoked for another 2-3 weeks and then aged by air drying for 4 to 5 months.
It has a stronger and more intense flavor than prosciutto and is a specialty of North Italy’s Südtirol/Alto Adige region. This is the same Speck Alto Adige PGI I received as a sample a little while ago and first made this yummy recipe for Speck Ham Tater Tots.
Speck Alto Adige PGI is so superior in quality and taste, I could eat it every day! I’m absolutely in love with it and added a whole cup of it in this recipe. The speck gives the dish a wonderful smokey flavor and also pairs well with the sharp cheese. Feel free to substitute regular smoked ham, bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto for the Speck.
Make this into one of the best vegetarian recipes!
Whenever I don’t feel like eating meat, but want serious comfort food, I make this recipe. I leave out the ham entirely and serve it with a green veggie or salad for an easy vegetarian meal.
Here’s a few more vegetarian comfort food recipes!
- Asparagus Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust
- Easy Indian Creamed Spinach
- Spinach Artichoke Risotto
- Vegetarian Chili Frito Pie
- Gazpacho
- Slow Cooker Colcannon Potatoes
Make this Cheesy Cauliflower is the perfect comfort food and a great addition to any meal. Please let me know in the comments below how you like the recipe and if you used Speck or not!
Cheesy Cauliflower {with Speck ham}
Ingredients
- 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
- 1 cup Speck ham, diced (can substitute bacon, ham, pancetta, or prosciutto)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat
- 2 cups fresh shredded sharp cheese
- 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
salt and fresh ground white pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F/204C degrees. Butter a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and set aside.
- In a large heavy bottomed pot, steam cauliflower florets for 8 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Leave the pot on the stove and reduce the heat to medium. Sauté Speck until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Using the same pot over medium heat, melt butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens (about 4 minutes). Whisk in the cheese and mustard, whisking until the cheese is fully incorporated and the sauce is smooth. Taste the sauce and add salt and white pepper as needed.
- Stir the cooked cauliflower and speck into the cheese sauce and place the mixture in a buttered baking dish. Bake at 400F/204C for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling hot and browned on top.
- Serve hot as a side dish or as a main dish with a salad or green vegetable.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Leave out the ham for an easy vegetarian meal.
gabi says
Could I add potatoes to this?
Karrie says
Sure Gabi. Are you thinking diced potatoes? If yes, just make sure they are par-cooked, so they will be completely cooked through. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
gabi says
I will!
simonacallas says
Wow, this dish is not only yummy but also incredibly good looking ❤ I quit coffee for three weeks now and it’s been quite hard only for the first three or four days. Now I am OK and happy that I am not addicted anymore
GiGi Eats says
A “healthier” take on a ham & cheese sandwich. This is like a deconstructed ham and cheese sandwich!! Love it! Wish I could eat CHEEEEEESEEEE!
kushi says
I love cauliflower and always love trying new ways to prepare it and this one is just amazingly delicious. Can’t wait to try this out. Bookmarked!
[email protected] says
Okay – my mouth is completely watering over this one! Those golden crispy bits around the edge are absolutely killing me! So happy I’m not currently doing a detox! This is my kinda cooking!
Liora (Allthingsloveli) says
ohh now this is cauliflower all dressed up and ready to party! Good luck with your detox… almost halfway there! I’m rooting for you
Tez @ Chile and Salt says
This looks AMAZING Karrie!! I`m a total cauliflower fan not to mention all about cheese & anything pig related! Love this recipe & can`t wait to give it a try!!
Rachelle @ Beer Girl Cooks says
Whoa! No caffeine for 10 days is too much detox for me! I need my poison in order to function! I also need some of this cheesy ham cauliflower happiness in my belly right now! You certainly have more willpower than I do to avoid all things delicious. Which is more difficult to stay away from for you? The caffeine or the potato chips?!?!?!
Jennifer Jaras says
Karrie I can’t believe you are on a detox! No caffeine for10 days?!! I don’t think I could do it girlfriend so more power to you. On another note, this recipe looks delicious! I love cauliflower and am so glad I have a new way to utilize it. What could be better than bubbly cheese and ham! Great job and good luck on the detox. You are a better woman than I am!
Anu - My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
I can’t even think about no caffeine life. Hats off to you! And all the very on your DETOX. I love cauliflower and I love cheese too. And this sounds like the best idea to eat cauliflower. AWESOME!
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
No caffeine?!?!?!?!? OMG. I can’t even. Wow. Well, shoot. Go Karrie!! I’m crossing my fingers that it gets waaaay easier as you go along. Hey, afterward, coffee will be that much more rejuvenating, right? Meanwhile, I totally laughed when you mentioned that pretty nothing from this dish could be included in your detox. Except for the cauliflower, of course. As always, you made the most droolworthy dishes. So… when are you gonna send some over? Have a great weekend (sans coffee + every-thang). Pinning!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Good luck on your detox! I’ll be eating this while you are depriving yourself of yummy dishes My family isn’t a huge fan of cauliflower but I bet I can get them to love it in this dish!
Balvinder says
I love cauliflower and am always looking for new ways to prepare it and interesting recipes. This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try.
Liz @ Ready to Yumble says
Wow, I started drooling over these cheesy photos, and then I read about your detox….and then I felt bad that I could eat this while you could not….buuuuut I still plan on eating this asap! Good for you on sticking to your plan – 10 days without caffeine?! For the safety of everyone around me, I’ll stick to drinking coffee and eating cheese
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says
Karrie, more power to ya, girl! What I can’t imagine is no caffeine. That be cray, girl ! Anyway, this recipe looks da bomb. Totally Pinning to make soon. I just professed my love for cauliflower and the speck and cheese just puts this over the top. Good luck with your detox!!! Love to hear how you do with it very soon!
Sophie says
Oh my gosh Karrie, this detox plan sounds tough!! You brave woman!! I sometimes consider cutting caffeine out for a week, because I get such raging headaches if I don’t have my coffee first thing in the morning… but then I think I would need to lock myself in a dark room and talk to no one for that whole week or I would lose all of my friends
Keep us posted on how it goes!!
Beeta @ Mon Petit Four says
Now this is how you eat cauliflower! Seriously, I would have totally been begging Mom to make cauliflower back in the day if it had come out of the oven looking like this! Brilliant!
P.S. that diet plan sounds like…really hard! No caffeine!? *cries*