Eggplant Souffle

This made a nice, light dinner for a Summer evening served with Rosemary-Grape Foccacia. It should be served soohn after removing from the oven, so make sure everyone is home, and ready to eat before starting the dish. The eggplant may be prepared ahead and kept in the fridge.

You Will Need:

1 cup shredded parmasean cheese(and extra for preparing the souffle dish)
1 large eggplant
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon grated onion (dehydrated fine)
3 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/ teaspoon pepper

Remove eggs from fridge to warm before beating.

Peel and dice the eggplant. Place cubes in a colander and toss with 1/8 cup coarse salt. Let stand 1/2 hour to drain (brown juice should be released. Rinse well. Place in a large pot with just enough water to cover and boil until soft. Drain very well and then mash until pulp. At this point, the eggplant may be set aside until later.

Butter a 2 quart souffle dish and coat with additional grated parmesean. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Melt butter in an enamel pan (if you have one) and add flour. Whisk until foamy. Add milk slowly and keep whisking until it comes to a boil over medium temperature. Boil 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Add the mashed eggplant, cheese, bread crumbs and onion.

Beat egg yolks and add to mixture.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the larger mixture making certain all the whites are evenly incorporated(scrape the bottom well). Pour into the prepared dish and bake for about an hour or until centre is firm and a think knife inserted comes out clean.

Serve at once.