Cheese Soufflé

A soufflé as the center of a meal makes it easy to keep meat off the menu!

Most meat comes from factory farms, which are big sources of carbon emissions that lead to climate change.

Since most meat that people buy at supermarkets comes from animals raised on big factory farms, consumption of that meat contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing meat consumption, we can reduce our carbon footprint. And source as many ingredients locally as possible and from smaller farms, for Green Planet Eating!

Your choice of eggs has an impact on the environment.

I happen to raise a few chickens in my backyard, so my eggs are VERY local. If you don’t happen to have chickens, try to find a local farmer who sells them. Sometimes you can find fresh eggs at a farmers’ market. Sometimes grocery stores sell eggs from local farms. At least make an effort to buy eggs that came from chickens raised in a healthy environment, rather than a factory farm where they have little or no access to fresh air and space to roam. Healthy chickens produce eggs with higher nutritional value, and they also contribute towards a healthier environment for all of us. And if the eggs are sourced close to where you live, there will be fewer carbon emissions stemming from transporting the eggs from the farm to your kitchen.

A cheese soufflé with a vegetable on the side makes a simple yet elegant meal.

Pair this cheese soufflé with any kind of vegetable side dish or a salad for a simple but elegant meal. Last night, I served it with roasted broccoli on the side and thought it was the perfect dinner! A nice glass of red wine complemented it wonderfully.

Cheese Soufflé

Course: MainCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

A cheese soufflé is simple yet elegant and delicious. Just whip up some egg whites and combine them with a cheesy sauce for a yummy dinner tonight!

Ingredients

• 6 eggs, separated

• 1 cup grated cheese; I recommend half gruyère and half compté. You could also just use one cup of either of these cheeses or any combination of the two, and it will still taste divine!

• 4 TBS unsalted butter, plus additional to butter inside of soufflé dish

• 1 shallot, chopped fine

• 4 TBS flour

• 3 TBS grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

• 1 cup milk

• 1 TBS heavy cream

• 1/8 tsp sweet paprika

• a few gratings of nutmeg

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 tsp salt, plus a pinch for egg whites

• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400º. Arrange racks so there is plenty of space above where the dish will be for the soufflé to rise. Butter inside of 7 cup soufflé dish and sprinkle grated parmigiano reggiano to coat inside of dish.
• Heat 1 cup of milk and 1 TBS cream together in small saucepan over low heat so that it is hot but not boiling.
• Meanwhile, melt 4 TBS butter in saucepan over low heat. Add shallots to pan, raise heat to medium, and sauté until shallots are translucent and soft.
  
• Stir in flour with a wooden spoon and cook for 2-3 minutes, continuously stirring.
• Whisk in hot milk and cook, continuously whisking, for a couple of minutes until it is a thick sauce. Remove from heat.
• Stir in paprika, nutmeg, pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt.
• Whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Stir until well blended.
• Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are frothy, about a minute. Add cream of tartar and continue mixing until soft peaks form. Scrape sides of bowl at least once while mixing to ensure that all egg whites get beaten together. When you can lift your spatula and leave a peak of egg white standing, they are ready for the next step.
• Stir about 1/4 of egg whites into the sauce. Then gently fold in remaining egg whites. Sprinkle in grated cheese and gently fold together.
  
• Spoon mixture into prepared soufflé dish. Place soufflé dish on baking sheet and place in hot oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and puffy. Serve immediately.

Notes

• I use whole nutmeg in my cooking, grating it over the dish. It is just as easy to grate from a whole nutmeg as it is to measure out the powder from already grated nutmeg that you get in a jar, but it tastes much better if it is freshly grated. So I encourage you to purchase whole nutmeg, but you can also use a pinch of already grated nutmeg for this recipe, if that is what you have in your pantry.
• I love to eat leftover soufflé the next day. Although it is no longer puffy and beautiful, it tastes really good after 30 seconds or so in the microwave!