Friday 1 October 2010

Pumpkin soufflé pudding

It is not that I don’t eat eggs. I do if I can’t taste them too much. I just still find a dozen eggs a bit overwhelming. However the chooks went on laying while my mum was away a couple of months ago. I took home a dozen after visiting my dad and set to searching for recipes to use lots of eggs.

Any recipe using more than 3 eggs just seemed too eggy. I searched soufflé recipes. Isn’t that one of the food one makes with lots of eggs? The one I ended up making required only 3 eggs, lots of pumpkin, cheese and dry biscuit crumbs. It was quite unlike a traditional soufflé. It wasn’t light and fluffy nor did it need careful timing around its rise and fall. Just my sort of thing!

The first night I made it I served it with broccoli and it was nice, though quite rich. It lasted us a few nights. I liked it best with some leftover rice, spiced chickpea and a vegetable curry from a local Indian café. Sylvia would not eat the soufflé but she loved the chickpeas. They weren’t overly spicy but I was surprised as she has her food fairly plain these days but she does love chickpeas.

She also loved being given a bowl of plain rice to eat. It reminds me of being at Primary School and having fundraising days where we were given plain rice for lunch to help us empathise with the starving kids in Ethiopia (or maybe it was the refugees from Vietnam!) E has never heard of such a thing.

At my high school they had a more interesting version where everyone paid the same amount for fund raising. Kids names went into a lottery. A very small number had a sumptuous banquet, a small group had an average meal and most of the school had rice. A great way to demonstrate the realities of our world.

The reality of my home as a child was that Salada biscuits were a far more popular plain food than rice. My dad loves them. When I looked up the saltine crackers in the recipe, they seemed similar to Salada so I considered using these. However I love Vitawheat biscuits and they have new wholewheat crackers so I bought a packet with poppy seeds and sesame seeds.

This soufflé is anything but plain. It is perfect for people like me who don’t want to eat lots of eggs or to fear opening the oven and ruining the soufflé. I also enjoyed it as a sandwich spread. The recipe makes a lot but it lasted us a few days. I adapted the recipe from one for a carrot souffle and I am sure it could be adapted to other vegetables. This recipe is a keeper.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: High tea walnut, quince and maple syrup biccies
This time two years ago:
NCR: 'Chinese' Soup

Pumpkin Souffle Pudding
Adapted from Simply Recipes
serves 8
  • 750g pumpkin (weighed when trimmed and peeled)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup (100g) dry biscuit (saltine cracker) crumbs
  • 125g grated vintage cheddar cheese
  • 1 tbsp room temperature butter
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 3 large eggs, lightly whisked with a fork

Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside. (I used my medium round baking dish.)

Cook pumpkin til soft – I did mine in the microwave. Puree with a handheld blender. Add milk and continue to puree till smooth. Add remaining ingredients and stir well (NB Elise whisked her eggs till frothy but I just used a fork). Check seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake for 40-60 minutes or until puffed up and golden.

On the stereo:
Scott Walker: The Collection

14 comments:

  1. Of course my first thought was that it would be sweet, but savory sounds even better and so much more versatile! The chickpea combo sounds good to me, too. Like E, I've never heard of (or been involved in) something like the event at your school. I suppose it did make you aware of the inequalities in the world, but as a child, I would have been very disappointed with that plain rice when others were given a banquet! Do kids really understand such things? The souffle, anyway, looks great! ;)

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  2. I too dislike recipes that use a lot of eggs.
    The pumpkin souffle colour is really vibrant and I love the way it looks on the top, crisp and the soft pumpkin (not so eggy flavour) texture looks rather good too.

    I'm with E on your school and High school experience. Interesting. I grew up in 'Wales and have never encountered anything like it. I've only heard of the 'Blue Eye and Brown eye' experiment in the US to raise childrens awareness of 'racism' and the consequences of teaching each other differently.

    PS Sylvia is a girl after my own heart. Love that she likes chickpeas and rice! I think we will get on well :D

    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  3. Perhaps you could use egg whites that do not have so intense flavor. Anyway, this souffle looks perfect. Smoked paprika definitely gives a special tough to this.

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  4. I was going to say that it does look delightfully eggy but that is perhaps not a good thing for you! I like the egg taste-I eat eggs all the time but I know people that don't like the flavour at all :)

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  5. YUM! You had me hooked at Pumpkin!!

    I don't like real eggy things either. I have a tendency to use egg whites rather than the whole egg because you can taste them less.

    I have to try this!

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  6. High five! I, too, have recently started to feel icky at the thought of eating/tasting eggs, and I love pumpkin, so this sounds brilliant! Except I never have eggs in the house...

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  7. I love the look and sound of this - just my kind of dinner and perfect for this time of year

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  8. Your souffle looks wonderful. I am especially excited by the inclusion of smoked paprika, a.k.a. my best friend in the kitchen. The chickpea curry sounds great, as well. I actually ate a chickpea curry tonight!

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  9. Thanks Ricki - I think the rice vs banquet might not work in a primary school but I think it is understood in a high school. Eating plain rice at primary school did make an impact on us.

    Thanks Mangocheeks - I am sure you would get along famously with Sylvia over a bowl of chickpeas - had to look up the brown eye blue eye experiment - and you and I would love to share some non-eggy meals :-)

    thanks Katerina - I find the texture of the egg white even more repulsive than yolks but I agree with you about smoked paprika - love it!

    Thanks Lorraine - there are times I wish I was one of those who loved eggs because they are so convenient

    Thanks Amy - what I never understand about using egg whites instead of whole eggs is, what do you do with egg yolks???

    Thanks Hannah - breaking eggs is one of my least favourite things to do in the kitchen - but keep this in mind for if you ever have eggs to use up

    Tanks Katie - am sure you would enjoy it

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  10. Thanks Jodye - smoked paprika is my best friend too - it is hard to convince myself not to use it occasionally just for a change

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  11. holy moly johanna that looks amazing!

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  12. Delicious souffle- I must try this since pumpkin season is arriving here.
    And the little project in your school is very interesting- great way to teach kids about the realities of inequality in this world.

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  13. Johanna, yeah, the yolks are a problem :( I either add them to the husbands omelettes or put them down the sink (which makes me feel really guilty but frozen egg whites I'm sure come from caged chickens :( ).

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  14. This souffle looks really good! I've never seen anything like it. I'm so used to seeing sweet or cheese souffles. I love the fundraising you did in high school - that sounds like such a great idea to really demonstrate realities.

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