Cheese soufflé 

The cheese soufflé is all about air, few ingredients and few gestures, but if you make a mistake you risk deflating everything. My recommendations... The soufflé is a typical French preparation that can be made in a sweet or savory version. Its name derives from the verb souffler, which means to blow and which indicates what happens during the cooking of this preparation: the air particles of the egg whites expand with the heat of the oven and the soufflé swells.

Preparing a soufflé is not as difficult as it might seem, but you need some fundamental precautions for its success: the egg whites must be whipped until stiff and the base of béchamel sauce and egg yolks must have the right consistency. In this way the soufflé will not risk breaking or deflating. Try yourself with my cheese soufflé recipe, but also with these other recipes: spinach soufflé, gorgonzola and walnuts, smoked ham soufflé, vegetable soufflé. 

Ingredients

400 g milk

150 g cheese type emmentaler or fontina cheese

65 g flour

60 g butter

20 g Parmigiano Reggiano

5 eggs

salt

Pepper

nutmeg 

Procedure

For the cheese soufflé recipe, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir until well blended. Out of the heat add the milk: stir to dissolve the lumps, place on the fire, bring to a boil and cook stirring until you have obtained a very firm béchamel sauce, which comes off well from the pot. Let it cool to room temperature. Separate the yolks from the whites and incorporate 1 yolk at a time into the béchamel sauce, stirring constantly, then the grated cheese and Parmesan cheese. 8. Season with salt, pepper and scented with nutmeg. Bring the oven to temperature (170 ° C) and carefully butter a soufflé mold (ø 16 cm, h 8 cm) before whipping the egg whites, firmly firm: an important phase because it serves to incorporate small particles of air that will make the soufflé soft. Incorporate the egg white into the base of béchamel sauce and egg yolks: if this base has the right consistency, it will not "break" when the air particles of the egg whites expand with the heat of the oven, and the soufflé will swell without collapsing. Pour the mixture into the mold and bake for about 50-55 minutes. Do not open the oven while the soufflé swells: the change in temperature and pressure would collapse the air structure on which it stands. And of course, eat it right away, before it cools down.