Zucchini and Gruyère Soufflés

 ...or, how to enjoy fancy dinners in the comfort or your own home. You see, I think it is quite clear how much I enjoy cooking, and well, given how much the boy enjoys eating the stuff I make (even though sometimes that means waiting a bit longer than usual) it is a perfect match. Last week I wanted to try something different as we always end up eating sautéed vegetables in soy or cheese cream, pasta, leek with tomatoes, omelettes and some equally fast to make recipes. So I decided to attempt mini soufflés.

 I used this recipe (that I will translate below). At first I was not sure it was going to work, and I was so eager to see them grow and become fluffy airy balls, that  I was anxious during most of the 20 min wait. But the magic happened and what's more they really were good. So here goes the recipe, try it at home, it is a lot easier than it would seem.

What you'll need (these are the amounts I used as I was only making the soufflés for the two of us)
1 zucchini (summer squash)
50  gr butter
50  gr flour
30 ml. of the water in which the zucchinis  were cooked
1 cup grated gruyère cheese
2 eggs, separate the yolks and whites.
a little bit (half a cup maybe) grated Parmesan cheese.
salt, pepper, nutmeg.
butter

What to do
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Butter your ramequins (I am thinking you could also use a muffin pan) and add grated Parmesan cheese as if you were "flouring" them. Cut the zucchinis in rounds and cook them in salted boiling water until they are soft but not mushy. Strain them, setting aside some of the cooking water, and crush them in a bowl a bit (you do not want purée, just little pieces).  In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove the pan from heat and add the flour. Mix to obtain a sort of cream and put back in the heat source. Add the water from the zucchinis, while stirring. Set aside from the heat and add the egg yolks, one by one. Next add the zucchinis and the Gruyere and mix well. Now beat the egg whites until stiff and carefully fold them into the egg-zucchini-cheese mix. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill your ramequins to 2/3 (it is really important not to overfill them, otherwise they would spill while cooking). Set in the oven and bake for 20 min. You should not, at any point, open the door of the oven or the soufflés will deflate. Serve warm with salad as soon as they come out of the oven, as with time, they will also deflate. Enjoy !