Skip to main content

Cauliflower Cheese & Spinach Pasta Bakes

Somewhere between macaroni and cauliflower cheese, these pasta bakes are perfect for a cold day

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Cauliflower Cheese & Spinach Pasta Bakes

Why it works: Mustard and cauliflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 687 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Cauliflower Cheese & Spinach Pasta Bakes

Serves 6
Prep20 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1358Calories
45 gProtein
76 gFat
132 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pine1 oz (28g)191
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Blue Cheese1 oz (28g)100
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Leafnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mustard + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Cauliflower + spinachtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together117 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  3. Mustard + spinachtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together503 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Nutmeg + spinachtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together603 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, butter, mustard, blue cheese, nutmeg, spinach):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, butter, mustard, blue cheese, nutmeg, spinach. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.