Leek, Potato & Fontina Soufflé
Serves 4
This easy soufflé made with mashed potatoes is surprisingly light and tender, but rich and substantial enough to need nothing more than a green salad and a bottle of wine to make a lovely supper.
I will only hold for about 10 minutes, so plan to have everything else ready when it comes out of the oven. If you wait too long, it will fall — it will still taste perfectly good, but the light and fluffy texture will be lost.
Imported Fontina Val D’Aosta can be hard to find, but domestic Fontina is unfortunately not a suitable replacement. Imported Gruyere makes a better substitution, and is readily available.
Ingredients #
- 1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold or other yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” chunks
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
- Salt & pepper
- 3 tbsp softened butter
- 2 medium leeks, white and tender green parts sliced and rinsed carefully
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Cayenne and freshly grated nutmeg to taste
- 4 oz ham steak, diced
- 4 oz Fontina Val D’Aosta or Gruyère, coarsely grated
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 oz Parmesan, finely grated
Instructions #
Preheat oven to 375 F. Place the potatoes in a saucepan of well-salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook until very tender, drain very well, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes thoroughly with half-and-half, and allow to cool until just warm.
Heat 2 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook until well-softened but still bright green, 4-5 minutes. Add the thyme and garlic and cook for another minute. Add the leeks to the mashed potatoes and mix well. Season with cayenne, nutmeg, and add the ham and Fontina or Gruyère. Mix well, taste, and adjust the seasoning — you want the mixture to be highly seasoned, since it will be diluted somewhat when you add the eggs. Beat in the 3 egg yolks.
Butter a 2-quart soufflé or baking dish with the remaining 1 tbsp of butter. Coat the bottom and sides with half of the grated Parmesan.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks with a small pinch of salt. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the potato mixture to lighten it, and then quickly but carefully fold in the remaining whites half at a time. Scrape the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining Parmesan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and a skewer inserted into the center comes out cleaned. To serve, just scoop out portions with a large spoon. The browned top and cheesy sides have a lot of flavor, so be sure to get some on each serving.