Spinach and Gruyere Puff

(Williams Sonoma)
serves 8

Sun, 9 Jan 2000
“Ok we all know I’m on a limited diet right now. This is producing some interesting experiments for me. In any case, I found this wonderful recipe in the latest Williams Sonoma catalogue and tried it tonight. It came out brilliantly and very yummy. Not to mention full of happy spinach (iron- as i can’t really eat meat) and very low on the calories. The only fat is in the cheese (and also calcium and protein). I did make some minor adjustments to the recipe as I can eat egg whites (more protein), but not the yolks. I used ‘99% egg white’ substitute (the 1% yolk won’t kill me). Well, this recipe produced the puff that ate Cleveland, next time I think I’ll try cutting the recipe in half. ” –Michelle

Ingredients

• • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 12 oz. baby spinach leaved, washed and dried (2 bags prepackaged – you can also use frozen spinach)
  • salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2 1/4 cups whole milk (or lactaid)
  • 3/4 cup finely ground cornmeal
  • 4 oz Gruyere cheese, rind removed, diced
  • 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten (or a little more than 1/4 cup egg substitute)
  • 6 egg whites (i used 5 because i ran out – worked fine)
  •  
    (I also threw in 1/2 a chopped onion)

Procedure

1. In a large saute pan over medium heat, warm olive oil, add garlic (and onion) sautee. add spinach & sautee until wilted. season with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 450F
3. Lightly oil a 10′ braiser (i used what i had, which is something like a brasier- i suppose a casserole dish will also work fine.)
4. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, warm milk.
5. Add cornmeal; cook whisking constantly until thick and stiff (about 8-10 minutes though the recipe says it should take 16-20).
6. Stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cool 5 minutes.
7. Fold yolks (or egg substitute) into cornmeal mixture, then fold in spinach.
8. In a large bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir 1/2 whites into mixture, fold in remaining whites and transfer to braiser.
9. Bake 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375 and bake until top is golden and puff is more than double in height 20-25 minutes (my gas oven took 35 -40 minutes for some reason).