Twice Baked Zucchini Soufflé

         

     

          “Four to six servings of fruits and vegetables per day (giving priority to the vegetables, of course)” – that is my healthy commitment! I can skip other food groups but I won’t stop short of anything to get those four cups of veggies! And the easiest way to complete these challenge, believe me, is to start a day with having some of them for breakfast. So, a vegetable frittata was a nice choice for me for a while: it’s versatile and quick to do on a busy morning. But eventually I got bored with this combination of breaky-classic eggs and my beloved vegetables. I started to look for new options and a nice idea occurred to me: a soufflé! The same combination of eggs and vegetables but much more exquisite! It’s simple and elaborate at the same time. Light, airy, just dreamy and practically guilt-free (seriously, there is just so-so little flour and butter in it that you shouldn’t bother to give it a thought– personally I never do!). So, I’ve tried broccoli soufflé, aubergine soufflé and last week it was zucchini’s turn. I came across the recipe at one of the websites but changed the sauce: the original one was a combination of tomato puree and sour cream but since I ran out of the last, I mixed a basic tomato-basil sauce with coconut milk (I make a similar one for my Asian-style chicken meatballs). In fact, you can bake the soufflé with whatever sauce you feel like. In the end of the day, if you cook for yourself, feel free to adjust a recipe to suit your own palate!

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini

2 eggs, separated

40 gm butter

20 gm plain flour

100 ml milk

150 ml tomato-basil sauce

150 ml coconut milk

40 gm Parmesan, grated

salt, black pepper and nutmeg to taste

Method:

1. Coarsely grate zucchini, salt them and leave for 30 min. Squeeze out the excess moisture.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 18-cm angel food cake mould (the one with a hole in the middle).
3. Heat 20 gm of butter in a pan. Saute zucchini on medium heat for about 10 min or till it looks a bit dry.
4. Heat the remaining 20 gm of butter in another pan; add the flour and mix quickly to make a paste. Gradually pour the milk, whisking continuously to prevent the lumps from being formed. Cook the mixture over low heat for a few minutes or till it gets a bit thick. Remove from heat, let it cool slightly, then add the yolks (one at a time), mixing well after each addition. Stir in sautéed zucchini, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
5. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt till firm picks. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the zucchini mixture, and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour the mixture into the mould and bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Remove the mould from the oven and increase the temperature to 220C.
7. Let the soufflé cool for 10 min, carefully turn it onto a larger gratin dish, pour the tomato-basil sauce combined with coconut milk, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 10 min more or till it is golden brown in color.

Notes:

1. You can use any type of zucchini for the dish. I had yellow ones, but you may definitely go for vibrant green!
2. Typically soufflés are eaten straight from the oven, but, let me tell you, even the following day the leftover soufflé from the fridge tasted great! I guess I liked it cold even more )