Fluffy Sformati – for Soufflé Lovers Who Don’t Want to Beat Egg Whites
I love a savory soufflé, but I hate whipping egg whites. Don’t get me wrong: I love what an all-purpose egg white can do when you beat it, but it’s so tedious (even with a machine) that I often avoid fluffy meals altogether. Sformati is a godsend for us lazy soufflé lovers. This smooth, fluffy and luxurious Italian dish checks all the boxes and requires no whipping.
What is formati?
Sformati (the plural form of “sformato”) translates to “flan” in English, but I wouldn’t call it a direct culinary translation. Sformati call for eggs, of course, but unlike dense milk flan, sformati have a little more fluffiness, with the bubbly, soft texture of egg curd. While “sformato/i” can cover a range of preparations—sometimes the whites are separated, beaten, and added to the mixture—you’ll just as often find it prepared simply, as described below.
Sformati is made with an egg and cheese base, and many recipes include béchamel sauce , including this one. You can leave it plain or add vegetables to the mixture for color, flavor and texture. Whisk it all in a food processor until it’s a very thick mixture and bake in a double boiler until puffed and set. I made a ton of spinach with this recipe and, in the wise words of my Italian-American boyfriend, it was “very special.”
How to make spinach formati
1. Prepare the molds.
The formati is baked in a double boiler to gently heat the eggs, so use a baking dish large enough to hold six or seven six-ounce ramekins. (I couldn’t find my sixth white ramekin, so Red Red will have to try it today.) Using a pastry brush, brush the ramekins with melted butter. Place a tablespoon of grated Parmesan into one of the ramekins. Turn and shake it so that the cheese sticks to the butter and lightly coats the dish. Pour the excess cheese into the next ramekin and repeat the process to even it out. This will help the formati release from the molds more easily after baking.
2. Prepare the spinach.
Tossing spinach into a sformati base is a common practice and an easy way to add flavor and some nutrients. You can blanch fresh spinach, but I instead defrosted frozen spinach with the leaves cut up in the microwave. Whichever way you do it, squeeze the water out of the spinach and add it to the food processor.
3. Prepare bechamel sauce.
In a medium saucepan, start with the simple sauce. Whisk the melted butter and flour in a saucepan over medium-low heat for about two minutes until the butter smells browned. Add hot milk to the pan in four or five additions, stirring the mixture each time. Turn off the heat, add salt and a pinch of nutmeg.
4. Mix it all up
Add the sauce to the spinach in a food processor and pulse on high speed for about a minute. The spinach should break into very small pieces and the whole mixture should be a nice green color. Add the eggs and cheese and mix again until smooth, about 30 seconds.
5. Baking formats.
Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins (which are in a large saucepan). Pour the mixture almost to the top – about a quarter inch from the edge. The formati will become a souffle, but after cooling they will deflate a little. Butter one side of a large piece of foil. This will go beyond the boundaries and will not allow ambitious formats to stick. Place the entire roasting pan in the oven and fill the outer pan with an inch of hot water. This is a great time for a teapot with a long spout. Cover the entire pan with foil, butter side down. The foil will protect the tops from overcooking and will also trap some steam in the dish, which will help the formatati cook.
Cook the spinach formati for 30 to 35 minutes at 325°F, but check them after 25 minutes by lifting the foil to see if they have puffed up. They are ready when they have puffed up and the top looks dry. Remove the ramekins from the hot water and let them cool for five minutes before loosening the sides and inverting the egg pieces onto a plate. Sprinkle them with grated Parmesan and enjoy while they’re warm.
Spinach Format
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup tablespoon flour
- 2 cups milk (or milk alternative), warmed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 4 cups frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- Butter for molds
- Grated Parmesan for ramekins
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter one side of a large sheet of foil. (Large enough to cover a large casserole dish.) Lightly grease six 6-ounce ramekins and toss the bottom and sides of each pan with a spoonful of Parmesan. Remove any excess cheese that is not stuck to the butter. Place the ramekins in a large baking dish. Heat 3-4 glasses of water in a kettle.
Prepare béchamel sauce in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk them together for about two minutes or until it smells toasty. Add the warm milk in four or five additions, whisking each time until the mixture is smooth. Turn off the heat and add salt and nutmeg.
Add spinach and sauce to food processor. Beat on high speed for one minute or until the spinach is broken down into small pieces. Add the eggs, yolk and Parmesan to the processor and pulse for another 30 seconds.
Fill each ramekin with mixture to about 1/4 inch from the rim. Place the entire baking dish in the oven. Pour about an inch of hot water into the outer casserole dish and cover everything with foil, oil side down. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the formatati are puffed and the top is dry.