Chocolate and Ricotta Souffle
Delicious Italian Dessert from the Vegeterranean Cookbook
This indulgent Italian dessert may be a little tricky to make - but it's well worth the effort.
This sophisticated desert is from The Vegeterranean (pub. Simon and Schuster, £25) the gourmet Italian vegetarian cookbook, by Malu Simoes and Alberto Musacchio. It appears here with permission.
Chocolate and Ricotta Soufflé – Recipe
Ingredients – Serves 8
For the Chocolate Hearts
- 55 g (2 oz) 43% of bittersweet chocolate, grated
- 35 ml (1 1/4 fl oz) single cream
For the Basil Zabaglione
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 6 tablespoons Grand Marnier
- 5 basil leaves
- 150 ml (5 fl oz) double cream
For the Soufflé
- Butter and sugar for ramekins
- 200 g (7 oz) ricotta
- 60 g (2 oz) honey
- 1 1/2 quantity Lemon Strings (see below)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 egg yolk
- 40 g (1 1/2 oz) sugar
- 2 full tablespoons cornflour
- 4 egg whites
- Pinch of salt
For the Lemon Strings (one quantity)
- 2 lemons
- 270 ml (9 fl oz) water
- 210 g (7 oz) sugar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Method
Chocolate Hearts
- Melt the chocolate and cream together in a double boiler until combined. Cool to room temperature.
- Line a small plate with plastic film and scoop out teaspoon sized portions. Freeze for at least one hour.
Basil Zabaglione
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a small saucepan away from the heat until pale yellow. Add the Grand Marnier and cook in a double boiler, stirring, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, cool over an ice bath (a bowl of cold water filled with ice cubes).
- Cover and refrigerate. Thirty minutes before serving, foam the zabaglione with a mixer. Finely chop the basil and whip the double cream to soft peaks. Fold both into the zabaglione and refrigerate.
Lemon Strings
- Shave the lemon rinds with a potato peeler along the length of the lemon. Cut the rind lengthwise in thin strips (julienne). Boil the water with the sugar until it melts. Keep 60 ml (2 fl oz) of this syrup aside.
- Bring half the remaining syrup to a boil with the lemon rinds in it for half a minute. Drain the rinds through a sieve and repeat the procedure with the other half of the syrup. Pass the lemon strips through a sieve and return to the pot with the first 60ml (2 fl oz) of the syrup.
- Add one tablespoon of sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove the lemon strings from the liquid and set aside to cool.
Soufflé
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200°C/400°F. Butter eight ramekin cups and dust with granulated sugar. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to the boil. Beat the ricotta with a fork until creamy.
- Mix in the honey, two thirds of the lemon strings (finely chopped), lemon juice and egg yolk, mixing well after each addition while sifting in the sugar and cornflour as well. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with a mixer to form stiff peaks. Fold gently into the ricotta mixture.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture into each baking cup. Remove the chocolate hearts from the freezer. Place a chocolate heart in the centre of each cup and top with another tablespoon of mixture. Place the cups in a baking pan with 5 cm (2") sides. Pour boiling water halfway up the sides of the cups and bake immediately for 17 minutes.
To Serve
Remove the soufflés from the oven and take out of the water. Gently invert one soufflé at a time onto a wide spatula, place on individual plates and serve immediately with the Basil Zabaglione, topping with the remaining Lemon Strings.
The copyright of the article Chocolate and Ricotta Souffle in Italian Cuisine is owned by Rebecca Ford. Permission to republish Chocolate and Ricotta Souffle must be granted by the author in writing.
