Smoked ham and cauliflower soufflés

I had this recipe for ages, but haven’t done it for a while now. I remember the first time I tried it, I didn’t find it waw, but maybe that was because I wasn’t a big fan of cauliflower. But, things change, and I have grown up since those days 😛 So I decided to give it another go, and was actually surprised as this time, I really liked those little oven baked starters.

Ingredients for 6 soufflés:

• 500 g of cauliflower
• 4 to 8 slices of smoked ham (1 to 2 slices per ramequin)
• 10 cl of crème fraiche
• 2 eggs
• 3 teaspoons of flour
• 3 teaspoons of Parmesan
• Salt, pepper
• 1 pinch of grounded nutmeg

Times:

• Preparation: 20 mins
• Cooking: 35 mins
• Rest: none

1- Cut off the florets from the stem and cut them again into smaller regular ones. Wash them and put them into salted boiling water for 3 minutes (you can also steam them if you prefer). Drain and keep aside.

2- Preheat the oven at 180 Celsius degrees. Grease the ramequins and line each of them with one or two slices of ham.

3- Keep 6 florets on the side to decorate the ramequins, and mix the rest of the cauliflower with the crème fraiche and the eggs into the food processor.

4- Add the flour, the parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and mix again until creamy.

5- Fill up the ramequins with the mixture, and decorate with a little floret in the centre. Put into the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Wait for it too cool down and gently take them out of the ramequins when you are about to serve them, so they stay warm.