Leek and Gruyère Soufflé
April 13, 2010 | Print | E-mail | Filed under eggs, French
Last month, my baking buddy Becky and I signed up for one of the free technique classes offered by our local Williams-Sonoma store entitled “Simply Soufflé.” Despite the lack of seating (even though you had to reserve a space for the class) and the fact that we were surrounded almost entirely by snooty rich ladies, some of whom had dragged along their less-than-thrilled husbands, we had a blast together and we learned a few things as well. We were shown how to make two soufflés, the first being a traditional chocolate soufflé, and the second being this to-die-for savory leek and gruyère soufflé. It was so delicious that I picked up some leeks at the grocery store that week and made the soufflé the following weekend. It’s perfect for breakfast or brunch – give it a try!
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmer’s Market by Tasha Deserio and Jodi Liano.
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 5 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
- 2 cups grated gruyere
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 leeks, trimmed and chopped
- 1 tsp thyme
- 5 Tbsp flour
- 2 and 1/2 cups half and half, warmed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 6 eggs, separated
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a large soufflé dish with the softened butter and sprinkle the bottom and sides with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. In a large pan, heat the olive oil. Chop up the leeks and throw them in. Sprinkle with the thyme and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
In another saucepan, melt the 5 Tbsp cold butter. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Whisk in the half and half and cook until the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl – make sure you do this step, or the egg yolks you are about to add will cook over the heat, and you definitely don’t want that!
Stir in the egg yolks, one at at time.
Stir in the remaining 1 and 1/2 cups cheese.
Stir in the leeks and season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of the whites into the leek mixture. Quickly fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour into the prepared dish.
Using parchment paper, create a collar around the soufflé dish so that the soufflé will rise evenly. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just good enough to get the job done.
Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately!
Note: This post is not in any way sponsored by Williams-Sonoma. My friend and I attended this class just for fun!
April 13th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Great savory souffle and perfect for spring too!
April 13th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Sounds like a fun event and you mastered the souffle from it! Im loving the flavour combo in this!!
April 13th, 2010 at 10:34 am
That looks delish! I have never tried my hand at a souffle, but I love eating them.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:37 am
What a gorgeous souffle! I’ve only made a souffle once and it came out great!
April 13th, 2010 at 11:07 am
This looks all kinds of good. Would love to make this!
April 13th, 2010 at 11:15 am
I think I know what I want to make over the weekend, lovely. I really love leeks, just tasted them this year for the first time. I had leeks with greenbeans & pinenuts
April 13th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I love Gruyere…this looks amazing! I may even be able to adapt this to make it gluten-free being there is only a tiny bit of flour in it! I bet it smells delicious as it’s baking.
April 13th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
What a gorgeous souffle! This looks delicious!
April 13th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
This looks absolutely fabulous! I have never made a souffle, but I LOVE leeks and Gruyere, so I think I must make this!
April 13th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
What a lovely job you did with that souffle! The first time I made one, I couldn’t believe how well it turned out. I had always been afraid of them. Leek and Gruyere – oh my!
April 13th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Oh my! This looks absolutely incredible! I have never worked up the courage to try a souffle, but you make it look easy.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
LOVE the coloring of your pictures!! This souffle looks to die for!!
April 13th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Oh, it sounds delicious! You continue to amaze!
April 13th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
Yum! Souffles look intimidating but after reading your post I don’t know why! It looks easy. Tell me, can you make little individual souffles? How big (how many quarts) was the souffle dish you used?
April 14th, 2010 at 3:02 am
Always wanted to make souffle, I like the paper cuffs you have to put round them! I have gruyere in the fridge right now, can’t remember why I bought it but maybe I should make this instead.
April 14th, 2010 at 4:15 am
I too have always wanted to make souffle..dunno what’s stopping me though..:) great tip on the paper around the cup!
Er..i don’t know what gruyere is so i have to go check it out at the supermart..my cheese vocab is rather limited..:)
April 14th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Just the name “souffle” intimidates me, but I’m sure my hubby would do a great job of this. Plus, he loves leeks. This looks wonderful.
April 14th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Oooh! That looks great! I have never made a souffle. What a great post…what a hit that would be with company! I have seen those classes advertised and wondered how they were. Thanks.
April 14th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
What a fun class! I LOVE gruyere, definitely one of my favorite cheeses. This souffle looks fabulous!
April 19th, 2010 at 11:20 am
This looks great! I received a large soufflé dish for Christmas this past year but have yet to christen it with my first soufflé. I wonder if adding a little chopped ham would be nice?
May 5th, 2010 at 2:03 am
That looks delicious! I’m so far behind in reading blogs and can’t believe all these goodies I’ve missed