spinach souffle! . . .
by mulberryshoots
I’ll admit that making a spinach souffle sounds daunting. . . but it’s really not when you break up the process into sections. I bought some beautiful fresh spinach yesterday at the market and thought that cooking it down with onions, adding it to a bechamel sauce and then adding eggs for a souffle would be a nice dish to enjoy for supper.
I used Ina Garten’s recipe for the most part. Here are my steps:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees:
- SPINACH PREP: Rinse and clean half a bunch of fresh spinach; chop off the stems and coarsely chop the leaves
- Melt a tablespoon of unsalted butter, brown half a chopped vidalia onion and add the chopped spinach
- Stir gently as it cooks down until everything is soft and cooked through; sprinkle with grated nutmeg (yum!)
- Drain it of all the juices, place on a cutting board and chop with a cleaver alternately crosswise until it resembles frozen chopped spinach (just kidding!) You could also use frozen chopped spinach, draining it of all the water, but I like the idea and taste of fresh spinach!
- CHEESE: Grate half a cup of parmesan cheese. I have a gorgeous chunk of it and grated it on the large holes of a box grater. It will give a nicer lift to the cheese than Ina’s recipe (cheddar and fine parmesan.)
- SAUCE: Making the bechamel sauce and incorporating the eggs: Melt unsalted butter (2 Tablespoons) in a skillet; add 3 tablespoons more or less of flour and incorporate it into the melted butter. Add 1 cup scalded milk into the mixture, slowly incorporating 4 egg yolks one at a time, mixing gently. Add the grated parmesan and the chopped spinach. Combine and let the whole mixture cool.
- EGG WHITES: With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. A little at a time, fold the egg whites into the spinach mixture, making sure that it remains light and airy. Butter a souffle dish well and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Lightly fold the mixture into
the prepared souffle dish. - Make a circle in the top of the souffle with a knife to encourage the souffle to rise more. When you know everyone will be ready to eat in about a half an hour, place the souffle in the oven and turn the heat down to 375 degrees (nothing is more exasperating when the souffle is done and people take 10 minutes to get to the table!)
- Bake the souffle for 35-45 minutes until done. Let it rest in the oven after turning off the oven with the door open; move immediately to the table when everyone is ready to eat!
This is a truly delectable meal! . . . Bon Appetit!
mulberryshoots 
That looks pretty good. 🙂
Thanks! We took it out when it looked done, only to find out after the first spoonful that it was underdone inside. So we put it back in a 400 degree oven for ten more minutes and it was fine!
I’ve never made a soufflé, so I’m sure I would have even greater hardships than you haha
It might seem intimidating but if you’re careful about folding in the beaten egg whites and butter your dish well, the oven does the rest! If you do try it, just make sure everyone is ready to eat when it comes out of the oven – and test for doneness by inserting a clean knife in the middle – if it doesn’t come out cleanly, then bake it for about 10 minutes longer. Good luck! It’s worth it!
Whoop whoop what an awesome soufflé you have here. This is amazing, hope I will be able to get it like this when I try it out. Let me tell you, you also have a new follower. Feel free to pop over to my blog and see what’s cooking at this side.
Thanks! Actually, I think my favorite ruffled white porcelain baking dish makes it look special!
This is a personal invite to ask if you would be interested to do a Guest Post on my blog. Please let me know and email me at cookandenjoy@shaw.ca then we can chat further as I am off to work in a minute. Thanks for thinking about it.