Vegetarian

Easy cheese soufflé recipe

Print Recipe

Serve up a treat at your next dinner party with Liz’s super easy recipe for cheese soufflé. Enjoy with carrot and cucumber sticks for a moreish light bite.

You can prepare the cheesy egg yolk mixture in advance. All you need to do is whisk the egg whites in at the last moment (a good supper party tip). Egg whites will only whisk if they are completely free from any egg yolk. If you do get a trace of egg yolk in the egg whites when breaking the eggs, the easiest way to remove is by using part of the eggshell as a scoop (the shell attracts the yolk much more than a spoon).

This delicious cheese soufflé recipe harnesses the many nutrients found in eggs. Two nutrients, lutein and zeaxanthin, that give eggs their lovely bright yellow colour, may help protect against cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) as we get older. The reason? They are absorbed by part of the retina, the light-sensitve layer at the back of your eyeball, where they help protect against damage by free radicals, the rogue molecules that damage cells.

Discover more delicious recipes from Liz Earle Wellbeing

Ingredients

  • 500ml milk
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 an onion
  • 2 slices of carrot
  • 55g butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 55g flour
  • 4 large organic free range eggs
  • 30g parmesan
  • 75g mature cheddar

Method

  1. Start by warming some milk in a saucepan with a bay leaf, the carrot slices and a few petals of onion for flavour. Once it starts to warm up, add the butter to the milk mixture and continue to heat. While the milk mixture warms, separate the eggs, making sure no yolk gets in the white.
  2. Once the milk comes to the boil, strain it so you’re left only with flavoured milk. Add the flour gradually and keep mixing it together until you have a smooth roux on the stove top. Take it off the heat and add the egg yolks one at a time, making a creamy mixture.
  3. Now is the time to add seasoning to this mixture. You could even try adding some different flavours like french mustard or spinach. Add in 75g of strong mature cheddar, or another cheese if you prefer the flavour, and mix until smooth.
  4. Now you can whip the egg whites to soft peaks, making sure both the bowl and beaters are clean.
  5. Line some ramekins with butter and sprinkle some parmesan in the dishes after. The parmesan is not an essential step but adds a golden crispy coating once the soufflés are cooked. Keep some back to sprinkle on top before you put it in the oven.
  6. Next, carefully fold the roux into the egg whites one spoon at a time, being careful not to knock too much air out of the egg whites. Once it’s all incorporated, spoon the mixture gently into the greased ramekins, leaving a little bit of room for the rise.
  7. Put them on a baking tray and cook at 180° (160° fan) for 20 minutes.
  8. Serve with carrot and cucumber sticks.