Fontina Cheese Soufflé
A tall, airy cheese soufflé with the mild melt of Fontina in every spoonful.
Two things decide it, and neither of them is the cheese. The egg white is folded in with sweeping movements, never stirred — the air beaten into it is the only lift the soufflé has. And the dish is buttered and dusted with breadcrumbs: the batter can climb that rough wall, while on a smooth one it slides back down.
And the rule everybody knows and breaks anyway: the oven door stays shut. The blast of cold air collapses a soufflé in seconds.
Ingredients
- 100 g butter
- 3 heaping tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 375 ml milk (1 1/2 cups)
- 150 g Fontina, grated
- 4 eggs (yolks and whites separated)
- Salt, pepper and nutmeg, to taste
- Butter and breadcrumbs for the dish
Method
- 1
Make a thick béchamel: melt the butter, stir in the flour and add the milk gradually over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens.
- 2
Take it off the heat and stir in the grated Fontina along with the egg yolks. Season with salt, pepper and plenty of nutmeg.
- 3
Fold in the stiffly whipped egg whites with sweeping movements to keep the air in the mixture. Do not stir.
- 4
Pour into a dish buttered and dusted with breadcrumbs. Bake at a moderate 180 °C for 25 to 30 minutes, until it rises and browns, without opening the oven door at any point: the blast of cold air brings it down in seconds.
- 5
Serve immediately, straight out of the oven. A soufflé deflates within a few minutes and that is not a fault: it is what every soufflé does. Which is why it is carried to the table finished, and not the other way round.