Carrot Souffle

Last night I tried a new recipe for carrot souffle from Simply Recipes.  I've never made souffle before, but have always wanted to try.  But it seems like they are so touchy and so time consuming.  This one said it was fool proof.  And easy.  And it was!!  And soooooooo good.  Seriously.  I feel like I could have eaten the whole thing myself :P  I only made a half recipe since it says a full recipe serves 8...and I'm overloaded with leftovers as it is.  But next time I think I'll make the full recipe for sure.  I think a full recipe would only serve 4-6, though.  There wasn't much left last night.  Justin and Rebecca both really liked it too.  A great meatless meal.  And even though there is a little whole milk in it (I'm sure you could use lower fat...I just stuck to what the recipe says since I have whole milk on hand) I still consider it quite healthy.  It's mostly carrots and eggs.  Yum, Yum, Yum!  That's all I have to say :)

Carrot Souffle

2 lbs carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
Salt for salting cooking water
1 cup whole milk
1 cup Saltine cracker crumbs (I used a combo of oyster crackers and organic butter crakcers (like Ritz, but healthier/organic) since that's what I had)
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup minced onion
1 Tbsp. room temperature unsalted butter
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne (I don't have any so I substituted some paprika)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with an inch of water. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Strain the carrots and purée in a food processor or with an immersion blender (I used an immersion blender...there were a few small chunks left, but it still turned out fine).

Place carrot purée in a large bowl. Slowly add in the milk, a little at a time, whisking after each addition so that the mixture stays smooth, not lumpy. Mix in the saltine cracker crumbs, the grated cheese, onion, butter, Kosher salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

In a separate bowl, whip up the eggs until frothy. Then whisk them into the carrot purée mixture (I did all the whisking/whipping by hand...works fine plus not so many dirty dishes:).

Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until puffed up a bit and lightly golden.  Serves 4-6.