A cheese soufflé
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- 150ml milk
- 75g strong hard cheese, finely grated
- 3 large eggs, separated
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
The simplest of all soufflés and a brilliant way of using up the ends of hard cheese like Cheddar or Parmesan.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Butter a 900ml soufflé dish (about 20cm in diameter).
- Now make a white sauce: melt the butter in a small pan, add the flour and stir well over a low heat for a minute. Gradually add the milk, whisking as you go to prevent any lumps forming. Bring to a bare simmer and allow the sauce to thicken for 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the cheese, then season and pour into a good-sized bowl (to give you space to add the egg whites later). Leave to cool for 5 minutes or so, then stir in the egg yolks.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks. Gently stir a spoonful of the whisked whites into the cheese sauce to loosen it and then softly fold in the rest. Pour the mixture cleanly into the soufflé dish and put on to the centre shelf of the oven. Bake – without opening the door to take a peek – for 25–30 minutes. The soufflé should be well risen. A skewer or a strand of spaghetti pushed quickly into the centre will confirm that it is cooked right through if it comes out without any runny mixture sticking to it (though the soufflé should be slightly wobbly, and definitely not solid). Serve immediately, with a tart leaf salad and a sprinkling of grated Cheddar or Parmesan.
- Using up leftovers in souffles :
- Broccoli, leek, spinach or rocket Add a teacup of finely chopped cooked vegetables or uncooked rocket to the base mixture before folding in the whites. I always add an extra egg white to help hold the whole thing up (whisk it up with the rest). You could use Stilton here instead of other hard cheese.
- Butternut squash or sweet potato Use a teacup of cooked vegetables cut into very small dice and a sprinkling of fresh thyme, adding them to the base mixture. Substitute goat’s cheese for hard cheese, if you like, and add an extra egg white to the beaten whites.
- Courgette Add to the base mixture a good teacupful of cooked grated courgettes, squeezed fairly dry, and season with lots of freshly ground black pepper. Add an extra egg white to the beaten whites.