Pizza Souffle Recipe – an Italian Twist on a French Classic

This recipe was a complete and total experiment. That being written I must note that it didn’t rise as much as most of the soufflés I have made in the past. I knew going into it that the mozzarella cheese would weigh it down so I didn’t use a lot but felt it was needed if I was going to call this a “pizza” souffle. That is exactly what happened – it did impact the overall puff but the taste was amazing. When I make it again I might back off a bit on the mozzarella to get the big “ooooooh” factor you always want from a souffle. I will probably do half mozzarella and a larger volume of parmesan.

It did taste delicious and had impact I wanted when I thought up this crazy idea. I was drowning in eggs as happens and I try and think up new ways to deal with them. We both enjoyed it even if it wasn’t the puffiest souffle on the block.

Pizza Souffle

serves 2 – 4

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
i garlic clove, pressed
1 tsp basil
3/4 cup dried tomatoes broken into small pieces (not in oil)
11/4 cups milk (I used goat’s milk)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups marinara of choice
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350°.
Butter a 4 cup souffle dish or 1 quart cassarole. Make a 4″ band of aluminum foil 2″ longer than the circumference of the dish, butter 1 side and secure it, butter side in, around the dish.

When making something like a souffle I like to gather all of my ingredients together and have them ready to go. It just makes things easier. This comes together quickly and having it all right there just makes sense.

Heat butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Add garlic. Blend in flour, salt,.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.
Stir in cheese until melted.
Stir in dried tomatoes and basil.
Remove from heat.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff but not dry.
Beat egg yolks until very thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes.
Stir yolks into cheese mixture.
Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into cheese mixture.
Fold cheese mixture into remaining egg whites.
Carefully pour into souffle dish.
Cook uncovered for 50 – 60 minutes.
Do not open the oven too many times while baking or the souffle will fall!

Remove from oven and ooooh and aaaaah.
To serve: spoon out a serving and top with marinara and grated cheese.

How Was It?

As I wrote above despite this not being the prettiest soufflé I have ever made it was really delicious. I’ll be making it again and when I get the cheese proportions corrected so that it rises like a cloud I’ll adjust the recipe. I always figure taste counts a LOT when it comes to cooking and this was a winner on that front. It puffed enough to be called a soufflé and it was delightfully light to eat so I considered it a successful recipe. I served it with a garden salad of lettuces, cucumbers an raisins an it was a tasty meal.

Other Souffle Recipes:

Bacon and Jarlsberg Souffle

Shrimp Souffle with Sauce

Classic Cheese Souffle

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