Gougeres

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons butter, cubed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch fresh ground black pepper or 1 pinch chili powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 large eggs
• 12 finely minced chives or 1 -2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese (or other hard aged cheese like mimolette)
• 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese or 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 425°f line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
• 2 heat the water, butter, salt and pepper until the butter melts. add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan into a smooth ball. remove from heat and let rest 2 minutes.
• 3 add the eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously to ensure the eggs don't 'cook.' it will appear lumpy at first, then smooth out. (you can also do this in a food processor or electric mixer.).
• 4 add most of the gruyere and all of the parmigiano, as well as the chives; stir until well-mixed.
• 5 scrape the mixture into a pastry bag with a wide plain tip (or a freezer bag with one corner cut off). pipe small mounds (about the size of a small cherry tomato, maybe 1 tbsp each), evenly spaced, on the baking sheet. sprinkle each puff with a pinch of the remaining cheese. (you can prepare up to this point and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.).
• 6 bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then turn heat down to 375°f and bake another 20-25 minutes until they are deep golden brown all over. for extra-crispy puffs, poke the tip of a knife into the side of each puff about 5 minutes before they are done. best served warm.