Cheese souffle is a favourite of Rikki's. I had not made it in a very long time.
Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and it seemed appropriate to welcome the sunshine with a festive lunch surrounded by good friends and a bottle of wine.
This recipe is inspired by the Barefoot Contessa
Ingredients:
- 4 x 4 inch souffle dishes
- 6 tbs butter (unsalted)
- 1/2 cup parmesan
- 6 tbs of plain flour
- 2 cups of heated milk
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 8 large eggs separated, plus 1 extra egg white
- 6 oz good quality cheddar cheese grated
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Butter the souffle dishes and sprinkle with Parmesan.
Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in milk bit by bit.
Add seasonings and spices and return to heat whisking for one minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time.
Add Parmesan and cheddar cheeses and stir to combine. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
Beat egg whites with an electric whisk until they are stiff (about 5 minutes) - be careful not to overbeat as they will fall flat and your souffle will not rise. If you do this, throw our the eggwhites and whisk another batch!
Fold 4 tablespoons of the egg white into the cheese mixture to lighten it. Continue to add in rest of the egg whites.
Pour into the 4 souffle dishes filling each dish just over 3/4 full. Turn oven down 375 and place souffles in oven. Cook for 30-35 minutes. If you must peek only do so after about 20 minutes when souffles have settled otherwise they will fall flat on you with the change of temperature as you open the oven door.
It is always better not to peek at all and enjoy the surprise of your puffed up perfection at the end.
Bon appetit!
Comments