Cheese Soufflé with Pear and Walnut Dressing (Wales)

welsh-perllascheesesoufflepearwalnutdressing Perl Las, meaning ‘Blue Pearl’ in Welsh, is a superb blue cheese made by Carwyn Adams and family at Caws Cenarth in Carmarthenshire. This deliciously golden and veiny cheese has become one of the most famous and highly regarded cheeses in Wales over recent years. It is delicately salty and creamy with a lingering blue aftertaste. This unique cheese makes for a delightful soufflé which is complimented by a caramelized pear and walnut dressing.

White Sauce:
butter (60 g)
all-purpose flour, unbleached (60 g)
milk (250 mL)
½ onion
1 bay leaf
2 peppercorns
fresh nutmeg, grated

Soufflé:
Perl Las cheese, grated (150 g)
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
chives, chopped

Dressing:
1 pear
walnuts, broken (40 g)
sherry vinegar (20 mL)
olive oil (80 mL)
1 pinch sugar
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp. chives, chopped

To Serve:
rocket leaves

Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Butter ramekins and line them with grated Parmesan cheese. Prepare a large enough baking dish to hold all ramekins and fill with water for a Bain Marie.

Bring the milk to the boil with the onion, cloves, bay leaf and the nutmeg.

Make a roux with the butter and flour.

Remove the onion, bay leaf and peppercorns from the milk and gradually add the milk to the roux to form a thick white sauce, make sure you cook out the flour (3-5 minutes).

Take the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheese, chives and the egg yolks.

Whip up the egg white and fold into the soufflé mix in three stages so as to not knock out the air.

Pour the mixture into prepared ramekins.

Bake in the Bain Marie for approximately 20 minutes.

Dressing:
Peel and core the pear and cut into 1 cm dice.

In a hot frying pan, add the pear and the sugar and cook until the pear starts to caramelize. Add the sherry vinegar and remove from the heat. Add the olive oil, walnuts and chives and season with salt and pepper.

To Serve:
Place a few rocket leaves in the centre of the plates, place the Soufflé’s on top and pour the dressing around.

Makes 4-5 soufflés.