Souffle is a light and fluffy baked dish consisting of stiffly beaten egg whites and other ingredients along with egg yolks. It can be a main dish or a dessert. The beaten egg whites makes it puffy and lift up. Today I am sharing the recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Souffle. This is one of my all time favorite dish since I had it in the Panera Bread Company, a famous food chain. Whenever I take a bite, I have always wondered how can a dish be so wonderfully prepared. I learnt to make souffle from a cookbook and tried it. It turned out so good. Here you go…
Preparation time: 60 minutes
No. of Servings: 7
Spice level: 2.5
Ingredients:
Grated parmesan cheese or bread crumbs – 1/2 cup (for dusting)Thick Bechamel sauce – 1 1/2 cups (recipe below)Salt – 3/4 tspGround nutmeg or red pepper – 1/8 tsppinch of white pepper6 large eggs whites6 large egg yolksCooked spinach – 1 1/2 cupsPickled artichoke hearts – 1/4 cup (optional)Grated parmesan cheese – 3/4 cupSalt to tasteFor Bechamel Sauce:
Milk – 1 1/2 cupChopped onion – 1/4 cupMinced garlic – 1 tbspBay leaf – 1pinch of grated nutmegUnsalted butter – 2 tbspAll purpose flour – 2 tbspSalt and ground white pepperMethod of Preparation:
Preparation of Bechamel Sauce:
Combine all the ingredients for the bechamel sauce in a sauce pan over low heat.Let it stand for 15 minutes stirring frequently for the milk infuse the flavor.After 15 minutes filter the milk to discard onions, bay leaf and garlic.Meanwhile in a another heavy sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp of unsalted butter over low heat.Add all purpose flour and keep on stirring for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant but not darkened.Remove from heat and let it cool. Slowly stir in the warm milk and return to heat.Bring the sauce to a simmer stirring frequently to avoid any lumps.Cook until it reached the consistency of a thick creamy soup for about 8 to 10 mins. Remove from heat and cool.Add salt and pepper.You can prepare the bechamel sauce a couple of days ahead.Preparation of Souffle:
Butter a souffle dish or ramekins with butter and dust the insides with parmesan cheese or bread crumbs. Shake out the excess.Combine in a bowl warm bechamel sauce, salt, nutmeg or red pepper and a pinch of ground white pepper.In another bowl, whisk in the egg yolks (you can just use 3 egg yolks if you do not like a strong flavor of egg), parmesan cheese and half a cup of the bechamel sauce mixtue. Beat well.Combine the rest of the bechamel sauce and beat vigorously.Squeeze dry the cooked spinach and chop finely. Also chop the artichoke hearts.Add the spinach and artichoke to the mixture and mix well.In a deep bowl beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks are formed.Stir one quarter of egg whites into the base to lighten it. Then fold the rest.Pour them into the souffle dish or ramekins. Fill 3/4th of the dish.Bake until the souffle is risen or golden brown on top, 40 to 45 mins or 20 to 25 mins for individual souffle.Remove from oven and serve.The souffle will be puffed up and fluffy and will generally fall after 5 minutes.
I am submitting this recipe for the Breakfast Mela conducted by Srivalli of cooking4allseasons.
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