Soufflé with Purple Sprouting

This is an adaptation from the utterly wonderfully brilliant ‘River Cottage Veg Every Day’ by the long haired roustabout that is Hugh Hyphonated-Whitebread.

It’s a rather lovely and comforting dish which is fiddley enough to feel like you’ve accomplished something after you’ve cooked it.

For two moderately hungry folk you will need:

• 150g of Purple Sprouting Broccoli
• ½ Onion, a bay leaf and some peppercorns
• 25g of butter and 25g of flour
• 150ml of milk
• 4 eggs, separated nicely
• 150g of grated, strong cheese (I used Stilton and Cheddar)
• Nutmeg
• 125g of penne pasta (that’s the spirally stuff)
• Baking dish (one you might use for making lasagna or similar for two people)
• Heavy baking tray which the baking dish can sit on
• Electric mixer

Preheat the oven to 190c and put a large heavy baking tray inside. Give your baking dish a good butter as well.

Step One: Broccoli and Pasta

Finely chop the purple sprouting and pop it in a pan, just covered by some water. Whilst you’re doing this put the pasta in a separate pan and also cover it with boiling water. You want to cook the pasta and broccoli for about 8 minutes.

While they’re cooking add the milk, peppercorns, bay leaf and (unchopped) onion to a pan. Gently heat the milk so the flavours infuse. This will smell gorgeous.

When the pasta is done, drain it and toss it in some olive oil. The broccoli should be done too, so give that a drain and spread it out on a chopping board so it cools and doesn’t continue to cook.

Step Two: Sauce!

Put the butter in a pan and gentle melt it. Add the flour and combine together until you have a roux. Cook the roux for a couple of minutes, then add the milk to the pan in small batches, beating hard until it’s mixed in well. The sauce you end up with should be very thick.

Add in the cheese, nutmeg and egg yolks with a darn good stir. Then stir in the broccoli and pasta.

Step Three: Stiffening your whites

Put your egg whites into a mixing bowl and mix up to the hard peak stage [1. For the uninitiated this means that the foam you’ve formed stands proud and doesn’t sink back when you take the mixer or whisk out.]

Step Four: Assembly

Stir in one spoonful of your stiff egg mixture to the rest of the ingredients, then carefully fold [2. The best way to do this is to add the egg whites in two batches, lifting the rest of the mixture over them in the pan. The aim is not to knock the air out of the mixture. You’ll know you’ve done it right if you can tap the side of the pan with a wooden spoon and it sounds hollow.] the rest in.

Spoon the mixture into your buttered dish and put into the oven on the hot baking tray [3. This helps the dish cook evenly, as the heat from the tray radiates through the base of the dish.]. Cook for about 25 mins or until the top goes nice and brown.

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