cauliflower cheese mash

not sure where the idea for this came from - i am pretty certain i've not seen it anywhere else though it seems like such an obvious thing to do. it might partly have been the cauliflower paste dessert we had at the loft the week before or it could be that the autumn really has arrived and i suddenly crave soft, pureed food redolent of milky mashed potatoes of my childhood. or it could just be that i had some leftover grated parmesan and a small nugget of hard goat's cheese in the fridge and i didn't want them to go to waste.

either way, all i did was boil a whole cauli broken up into florets until soft, drain it well, then whizz it in a food processor with the grated cheeses (a couple of handfuls), a little knob of butter and a teaspoon or so or creme fraiche. i was tempted to put it some milk but think it ought to be hot and i couldn't be bothered to get a pan dirty for it. that was it. you do need to season it well - a generous amount of salt and pepper makes all the difference.

we had it with veal saltimbocca (sage and parma ham attached to the veal with a toothpick - i find the process worrying satisfying) and some swiss chard fried in the same pan while the veal was resting. it was absolutely delicious and took no more than fifteen minutes to do the whole thing. you can't argue with that.