This cheese soufflé is a Schama family favourite and much easier than you might think.

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 tbsp butter, plus tsp for greasing dish

1.5 tbsp plain flour, plus dusting for the dish

6 eggs, separated into

4 yolks and 6 whites

200ml milk

70g grated Gruyère

50g finely grated

Parmesan

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Method

1 Preheat oven to 190/gas 5. Butter a large (1.8 litre) ovenproof soufflé dish and dust with flour. Separate eggs; whites into a large bowl, yolks into a small one. Melt the butter in a large saucepan on a medium heat, add the flour with either a wooden fork or a small whisk and blend, stirring for 2 minutes so that the mix doesn’t form lumps. It should make an elastic goop.

2 Add the milk and continue to stir or whisk for about 4 minutes until the mixture forms a dense creamy mass.

3 Addthe grated Gruyère and stir until smooth. Remove from heat, season and, when tepid, whisk in the egg yolks and mustard.

4 Beat the whites, preferably by hand with a balloon whisk, until they form soft and floppy peaks.

5 Using a flexible plastic or rubber spatula, fold the cheese-mustard mix into the egg whites (or vice versa). It’s important that you fold, not beat or stir aggressively. It’s always much better to undermix than lose air by thrashing it into submission. When the mixture is nicely married, pour it into the buttered, flour-dusted soufflé dish to about 1cm below the lip.

Cut a circle in the top of the mix — to create a crown — and sprinkle on the Parmesan.

6 Set the dish in the oven and turn the heat down immediately to 175C/gas 4.

7 While it’s cooking, assemble a simple salad of watercress, crispy cavolo nero or spinach with a light dressing — a little acid to cut against the creaminess.

8 Bake for 25 minutes before testing with a skewer. If you want an oozy, flowing centre, stop if it comes away cleanly. For a drier soufflé, cook for another 4 minutes. Serve with the salad.

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