This dish mixes all my favourite comfort dishes: a pasta bake, a fondue and a cauliflower cheese. The pasta and the cauliflower need to be pre-boiled, then mixed with a pouch of fondue cheese – and for extra decadence I’m topping it all with a garlicky crumble. Pure comfort!
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400g cauliflower
250g rigatoni pasta
1 pouch of ready-to-use fondue cheese (400g)
60ml white wine
50ml cream
15ml Kirsch
For the topping:
100g breadcrumbs
40g butter, melted
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp mustard
salt and pepper
Serves 4 – Prep: 30mins – Oven: 20 mins
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut the cauliflower into florets and cook them in boiling salted water for 5 minutes until they start to soften. Drain and cool under a running tap. Roughly chop, so that the cauliflower chunks are about the size of your pasta shells. Put into a large bowl.
Cook the pasta shells until very al dente, usually 2 minutes less than the package instructions. Drain and cool under a running tap. Add to the bowl with the cooked cauliflower.
Empty the pouch of ready-to-use fondue cheese into a saucepan and put over a medium heat. Add the white wine and cream and stir until melted and bubbling. Add the Kirsch and cook for another minute, then pour over the pasta and cauliflower in the bowl and mix well.
Pour the pasta mix into an oven-proof dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs with the butter, garlic and mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the pasta and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and the pasta bubbling.
