|
April, 2001
TWICE BAKED SPINACH
SOUFFLES
I have a mental
short list of recipes labelled “Best of the Best” and this is one
of them. The soufflés are prepared well ahead so that the only
last-minute action is to bake them in the oven, where they puff,
infallibly, to flamboyant size. Lacking the necessary individual
dishes, you can bake these soufflés in muffin cups and then brown
them in sauce for serving in one large baking dish. This makes six
appetizer-size soufflés.
|
INGREDIENTS:
Makes 6 servings |
|
|
1 lb/500 g spinach
|
|
|
1/3 cup/75 g butter |
|
|
1 onion, finely chopped |
|
|
1/4 cup/30 g flour |
|
|
1 1/2 cups/375 ml milk |
|
|
pinch of ground nutmeg |
|
|
salt and pepper |
|
|
5 egg yolks |
|
|
6 egg whites |
|
|
1 1/2 cups/375 ml light cream |
|
|
1/2 cup/50 g grated Gruyère
cheese |
|
|
six 1-cup/250-ml ramekins |
|
|
six 6-in/l5-cm gratin dishes |
Pull the stems from the spinach and
wash the leaves in several changes of water. Pack the wet leaves
in a large saucepan, cover it, and wilt the leaves over medium
heat, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain the spinach
and let it cool. Squeeze handfuls of spinach in your fists to
extract the water, and then chop it. Melt 1 tablespoon of the
butter in the saucepan, add the onion and sauté over medium heat
until it is soft but not brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the
spinach with salt and pepper and continue cooking, stirring,
until it is quite dry, 2 to 3 minutes. Set it aside.
To make a white sauce: Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan,
whisk in the flour, and cook until foaming but not browned,
about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and
bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
Simmer it for 2 minutes and then take it from the heat. Transfer
about a third of the white sauce into a small saucepan and pour
the cream on top so it coats the sauce and prevents a skin
forming. Set it aside.
Generously butter the ramekins and chill them. Stir the spinach
into the remaining sauce and heat until very hot. Take the
mixture from the heat, taste, and adjust the seasoning; it
should be well-seasoned to make up for the bland egg whites.
Beat in the egg yolks a bit at a time so they cook in the heat
of the sauce and thicken it slightly. Cover the saucepan with
plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming on the spinach mixture.
Heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Bring a roasting pan of water to a
boil on the stove for a bain marie. Beat the egg whites until
stiff, adding a pinch of salt to help stiffen them. Warm the
spinach mixture gently until the pan is hot to the touch. Add
about a quarter of the beaten egg whites and stir until well
mixed. The heat of the sauce will cook the whites slightly. Add
this mixture to the remaining whites and fold them together as
lightly as possible.
Fill the ramekins with the mixture, smoothing the tops with a
metal spatula. Run a thumb around the edge of each dish to
detach the mixture so the soufflé rises straight. Set the
ramekins in the bain marie, bring it back to a boil on the
stove, and transfer it to the oven. Bake until the soufflés are
puffed, browned, and just set in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.
They should rise well above the rim of the dish. Take the
ramekins from the bain marie and leave them to cool -- the
soufflés will shrink back into the ramekins, pulling away
slightly from the sides.
Turn each soufflé out into a gratin dish. Whisk the cream with
the reserved sauce until smooth and bring it just to a boil.
Season it to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and pour on
top of the soufflés, letting it pool around the sides. Sprinkle
them with the cheese. The soufflés can be kept, covered with
plastic wrap, for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
To finish: Heat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Bake the soufflés until
browned, slightly puffed, and the sauce is bubbling, 7 to 10
minutes. Serve them at once.
This Recipe of the Month
selection comes from Anne Willan's newest release: Anne
Willan From My Château Kitchen (Clarkson Potter/Publishers.
April 2000)
www.randomhouse.com
^ Top |
