Every now and then I love to try and astound The Chief Taster. This is becoming more and more difficult as my repertoire grows, but it doesn’t stop me trying.
The concept for this dish is a soufflé which thinks it’s an omelette…or maybe the other way around. Perhaps I should call this ‘confused egg dish’, but that name doesn’t really do justice to a confection which really did succeed in astounding…..It’s the best of all worlds!
Because it’s puffed up, due to the beaten egg whites, it’s very filling. If you serve with crusty bread, a salad (I think radicchio goes very well) and some salami, it makes a hearty lunch for three. But it’s not really worth making a lesser quantity, unless you have a slightly smaller frying pan.
An Astounding Spinach and Blue Cheese Soufflé-omelette
Serves – 3
Ingredients
- 200g/7 oz frozen chopped spinach (buy a bag of smallish spinach blocks or balls and use as and when as you need them).
- 5 eggs
- olive oil for frying
- about four spring onions
- 150g/5 oz mix of soft but flavourful cheese. I use a mix of gorgonzola dolce and soft chalky goats’ cheese or Caerphilly, or Tomini which is cows’ milk cheese
- 2 tbsps hard cheese – parmesan, or even cheddar – any grated cheese you need to use up, or, even better, shavings
- smoked salt and freshly ground black pepper
- knob or two of butter, also for frying
- a few grinds of nutmeg
Instructions
- In a large microwavable bowl defrost the spinach – squeeze out any excess liquid.
- Add the cheese, and mash together with the spinach.
- Get your grill heating up.
- Warm a couple of knobs of butter and a little olive oil in a big frying pan.
- Separate the eggs – put the yolks in with the spinach; and the white in a large, clean, dry mixing bowl.
- Grind in the nutmeg, and also some salt and pepper into the spinach.
- Snip in the spring onions.
- Beat the eggs whites with an electric mixer until stiff.
- Fold in the spinach mixture.
- Pour into the frying pan. Raise the heat. Leave two or three minutes.
- When the soufflé-omelette seems quite cooked on the bottom (it should be still soft and liquid on top) sprinkle over the hard cheese and put under the grill (don’t put the frying pan handle under the grill of course – and use oven gloves – well, effectively, use your common sense!).
