Cauliflower Soufflé! Hooray!

Hooray for soufflé!

In a recent produce basket, I got a big honkin' head of cauliflower. The garden is now ripe with cherry tomatoes and basil. I've got my rental chickens clucking away laying eggs in the backyard.

All signs point to let's make a soufflé.

Today I'm sharing with you a delicious summer vegetable recipe that is NOT a salad.

Sometimes we need another way to eat our veggies!

This soufflé is a rich blend of flavors of summer. Mellow cauliflower and tangy roasted tomatoes meet fresh basil and nutty parmesan in a fluffy dish that works well as part of a brunch spread or as a main dish, served with some gazpacho or a side caesar salad.

Cauliflower and oven dried tomato soufflé with basil and parmesan

Makes 4 individual soufflés

Ingredients

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 T olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 T butter
• 1/4 c all purpose flour
• 8 eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 cups milk or cream (if you want a more rich souffle)
• 2 cups cauliflower, riced (use your blender or cheese grater)
• 1/3 cup plus 3 T parmesan or romano cheese
• 1 handful of basil chopped

Directions

• Coat the tomatoes in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes in a 350°F oven until the juices from the tomatoes are nearly dried and the tomatoes are wrinkly, roughly 25 minutes.
• Make a roux: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk for about 3 minutes until the roux lightens in color slightly.
• Slowly add the milk (or cream) while whisking, and continue whisking until the mixture thickens, roughly 2 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and whisk the egg yolks into the butter-flour-cream roux.
• To the pan, add the cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.
• Using your stand mixer or a whisk, whip the egg whites until they hold their peaks.
• Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the cauliflower mixture.
• Butter the ramekins (or baking dish) and coat the buttered dish with the 3 T parmesan that you set aside.
• Divide the souffle mixture evenly among the ramekins, or just below the surface of the dish.
• Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes, until risen and the edges are browned.

Enjoy right away! Yum yum!

If you've never made a soufflé before, have no fear. This was my first go at it as well, and if I can do it so can you! The final product is worth a few extra dishes to clean, I promise. Now go on and get going!

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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please do check out my blog.

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All content and photos by @jaymorebeet, taken on July 19, 2017, using a Canon EOS 7D Mark II.