Chapter four
I’ve made many soufflés at this point and know the process by heart, but each time I make one I check Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking for the ingredient quantities. And, every time, I begin looking in the wrong chapter. You might think, as I always do, that you would find a soufflé in chapter 3, the chapter on egg dishes. You might flip back and forth wondering where it is and why, after looking it up so many times, you can’t just lay your finger on it. Only then will you remember that it is actually in chapter 4, Entrées and Luncheon dishes.
Which is exactly where it should be. I love the word luncheon, it feels like a mid-day meal, elegant —maybe even pleasantly stuffy — with table linens, cloth napkins and fresh flowers in crystal vases. Through large windows you can see a lush lawn and spring gardens bursting to life. Luncheon also feels like a spring day in Paris, eating at a sidewalk café, which tastes twice as good because of the appetite you built up walking the city for hours after a quick morning breakfast of espresso and a pastry.
That is always the experience of a soufflé even if I’m in shorts and a t-shirt, with dirt from potting up a few containers still under my fingernails. It is light-tasting, yet satisfying, maybe even a bit decadent.
This soufflé captures spring perfectly for me. The asparagus still maintains a bit of crispness, even after 25-30 minutes in the oven. Prosciutto, salty and pleasantly gamey joins nutty, sharp Gruyére, a Swiss alpine cows milk cheese. It is the perfect spring breakfast, brunch or dinner. Or, with a few linens and the good china, serve it for luncheon.
Asparagus, Prosciutto and Gruyère soufflé
Serves 4-6 (but really 4)
Airy and light-tasting yet just a little decadent, this soufflé combines sweet, crisp asparagus, salty, gamey Prosciutto and sharp, nutty Gruyère cheese in one spring dish that is perfect from breakfast to dinner.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tbs butter plus extra to butter soufflé dish
about 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbs flour
1 cup whole milk
White pepper
Cayenne pepper
Nutmeg
5 eggs
2 1/2 ounces Prosciutto, finely chopped, about 1/2 cup
1/4 lb asparagus, ends snipped off and thinly sliced, about 1/2 cup
1 oz Gruyère cheese, grated, about 1/2 cup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F. Butter the inside of a 6 cup soufflé dish (or 8 6oz ramekins). Add Parmesan and turn to coat the inside of the dish. Gently tap out any extra and reserve for later.
Make Béchamel sauce: Melt 2 1/2 tbs butter in a 2 quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes until it has a pleasantly sharp smell, kind of like cheese. Remove from heat and, while whisking vigorously, add milk all at once. Return to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until it thickens to a thin paste.
Remove from heat and season with a pinch each of salt, white pepper, Cayenne and nutmeg. Separate eggs, adding all five whites to a clean bowl and four of the yolks to the sauce. Discard the extra yolk. Stir sauce to combine.
Whip egg whites: Using electric beaters or the whisk attachment on your mixer, beat eggs to stiff peaks, being careful not to over beat.
Make batter: Transfer Béschamel sauce to a large bowl. Add asparagus, Prosciutto and Gruyère. Stir to combine. Add 1/4 of the egg whites. Stir to combine and lighten the sauce. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold into the batter.
Bake soufflé: Transfer the batter to your prepared soufflè dish. Transfer to the oven, close door and immediately reduce the temperature to 375° F. Cook, without opening the door, for 25 minutes. At 25-30 minutes your soufflé will be quite moist in the middle and the center should jiggle a bit when you gently shake the dish. For more well done, cook as long as 35 minutes.
Serve immediately after removing from oven. Your soufflé will begin to settle after 1-2 minutes.
TIP: It is dropping the heat, not rough footsteps that cause a soufflé to fall. Whatever you do, do not open the oven door in the first 20 minutes.
