Turnip Souffle

My mother has a beautiful vegetable garden at her home in Chase City, so every time I visit, I can expect to come back to Norfolk with a bushel of her freshest handpicked veggies. On the last few visits, I’ve returned with a sizable portion of turnips. We’ve enjoyed boiling them and eating them plain or with a little salt, pepper and butter, and we’ve tried slicing them and eating them raw with hummus or on salads. Yet, our fridge was still stocked with turnips, and I was running out of ideas.

Last week, we decided to sign up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) subscription at the Five Points Community Farm Market in Norfolk. On our first visit to gather our weekly veggies, you can probably guess the first thing we were to add to our bags: turnips.

It was time to try something different, so I did a little searching online, and found this recipe for Turnip Soufflé. I’m an automatic sucker for any kind of soufflé to begin with, so I immediately knew I’d love it, but it was even better than I imagined. The recipe is pretty simple; the main seasonings are salt and white pepper, and the sweet flavors of the onion and Greek yogurt complement the savory turnips. Plus, the fluffy-as-a-cloud texture is out of this world. Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 medium turnips, peeled, trimmed and diced

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

½ cup milk

¼ cup vanilla Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons yellow onion, peeled and minced

Salt and white pepper

4 eggs, separated

Method

1.     Preheat oven 350°. Grease miniature ramekins or one 6-cup soufflé dish with 1 teaspoon of butter, and dust with flour. Tap out excess, and set aside.

2.     Boil turnips in a pot of salted water over high heat until soft, approximately 8–10 minutes.

3.     Drain well and mash until smooth.

4.     Melt remaining butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.

5.     Whisk milk and yogurt together, and add to pan.

6.     Stir in mashed turnips, and cook until thick, about 5 minutes.

7.     Add onions, salt and white pepper.

8.     Remove pot from heat, and gradually stir in egg yolks. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside.

9.     Whisk egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form.

10. Gently fold into turnip mixture, and spoon into prepared dish.

11. Bake until puffed and golden, 35–40 minutes.

Recipe inspired from Saveur, http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Turnip-Souffle