Twice-baked squash soufflés with fontina and spinach sauce
Soufflé never fails to impress. Try this twice-baked squash and cheese version at your next dinner party.
Ingredients
For the soufflés
- 400g/14oz butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 45²µ/1¾´Ç³ú unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 45²µ/1¾´Ç³ú plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 500ml/18fl oz hot full-fat milk
- 250g/9oz fontina, grated
- 5 free-range egg yolks
- 6 free-range egg whites
- 150g/5½oz cooked spinach, squeezed of any moisture
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú Parmesan, grated
- 250ml/9fl oz double cream
- black truffle shavings, to serve
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the soufflés, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Place the squash in a roasting tin and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil, cover with kitchen foil and bake for 40 minutes or until soft. Take off the foil and cook for a further 15 minutes until the squash is dry. Leave to cool slightly then place in a food processor or blender and blitz to a fine purée. Leave the oven on.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and gradually stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Cook for 2 minutes until a thick paste is formed and then gradually add the hot milk, stirring with a whisk until there are no lumps. Add the squash, 100g/3½oz of the fontina and season with salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese has melted and then take off the heat and beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form and then beat a third of the egg whites into the squash mixture until well combined. Fold in the rest of the egg whites with a metal spoon.
Line 8 ramekins completely with foil. Grease and dust the foil with butter and flour. Fill the ramekins almost to the top with the soufflé mixture.
Place the ramekins in a roasting tin and carefully pour in enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins to create a bain-marie. Cook for 20 minutes until the soufflés are well risen and light golden brown on top. Take out and leave to cool in their ramekins. Leave the oven on.
To bake again, grease a small gratin dish and add the spinach, the remaining fontina, Parmesan and double cream. Carefully take the soufflés out of the ramekins and remove the foil. Add the soufflés to the gratin dish, season with salt and pepper and bake again for 10 minutes. Finish with black truffle shavings and serve.