Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake with Leeks
- 45 mintotal time
- $2.27£1.39a serving
- 841822calories
- 3435 gprotein
Serves 4; price is an estimate. Dinner Plan is a paid weekly plan for your household and budget. You see your week before you pay.
Pasta and cauliflower in a mustardy cheddar sauce with soft leeks, baked under a crisp, cheesy crumb.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 12 oz dried pasta (penne, rotini or spaghetti), short shapes such as penne
- 1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1¾ cups cheddar cheese, grated
- ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: wheat (gluten), milk, soy, sesame, mustard, sulfites. Check the label: egg. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 3 minutes less than the packet time, adding the cauliflower for the last 5 minutes. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat and cook the leek for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the all-purpose flour for 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the whole milk. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until thick and smooth.
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in three-quarters of the cheddar and the Dijon mustard. Season with salt and black pepper, then fold in the pasta and cauliflower.
- Tip into a large baking dish, scatter over the plain breadcrumbs and the rest of the cheese and bake for 15 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Leftovers: Keeps in the fridge for 3 days; reheat with a splash of milk until piping hot.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 350 g dried pasta (penne, fusilli or spaghetti), short shapes such as penne
- 1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 40 g butter
- 700 ml semi-skimmed milk
- 200 g mature cheddar, grated
- 40 g dried breadcrumbs
- 75 ml plain flour
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: gluten, milk, soya, sesame, mustard, sulphites. Check the label: egg. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 3 minutes less than the packet time, adding the cauliflower for the last 5 minutes. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat and cook the leek for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the plain flour for 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the semi-skimmed milk. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until thick and smooth.
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in three-quarters of the cheddar and the Dijon mustard. Season with salt and black pepper, then fold in the pasta and cauliflower.
- Tip into a large baking dish, scatter over the dried breadcrumbs and the rest of the cheese and bake for 15 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Leftovers: Keeps in the fridge for 3 days; reheat with a splash of milk until piping hot.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 841 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 34 g |
| Carbohydrate | 102 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Fiber | 7 g |
| Sodium | 610 mg |
| Calories | 822 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 35 g |
| Carbohydrate | 98 g |
| Fat | 35 g |
| Fibre | 7 g |
| Sodium | 632 mg |
Worked out from the ingredients, 523 g a serving; optional extras and salt to taste aren't counted. US and UK values differ a little because each uses that country's food data and products. US values from USDA FoodData Central.UK values from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it costs
About $2.27 a serving in the US (range $1.74–$3.01) and £1.39 in the UK (range £1.06–£1.84). That's the share of each ingredient this recipe uses; basics like oil, salt and spices aren't counted.
Prices are estimates. Item prices come from public price data where available (US: Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA; UK: Office for National Statistics). Where that data has no match, we use our own estimate. Ranges set using Open Prices data (Open Food Facts, ODbL). Prices as of October 2026. How we estimate
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