Prosciutto Thyme Gourgeres

When I lived in Boston there was an excellent French restaurant one hundred yards from my house and they would bring a plate of freshly made gougeres with a crisp exterior and an almost airy pop-ever interior.  We called them cheesy poofs and always ordered extras.  The taste of the Gruyère cheese was sublime and with a few changes, I make these to start off sit-down dinner parties.

Makes 30 Gougeres 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup while milk
• 1/2 cup of water
• 8 tablespoons of butter, divided into 8 pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon of mustard powder
• 5 extra-large eggs, room temperature
• 6 ounces of prosciutto that has been backed until crispy and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves, finely chopped
• 1 cup of Gruyère cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated cheese

Making It

• Turn the oven on to 425 degrees
• Take a medium sauce pan and add the milk, water, butter and salt, bring to a full boil and then add all of the flour, mustard powder and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon. The dough will thicken during the 2-3 minutes you are stirring
• Put the dough in the bottom of a mixer with the paddle attachment and add the eggs one at a time until each one is fully incorporated
• Add the prosciutto, thyme and cheeses and mix until incorporated
• Take three full baking sheets and line them with parchment paper, spoon out one tablespoon of the mix for each gourgeres and separate them by about 2 inches
• You will be using all three racks so it will be important to rotate them once you put them in the oven.  The second you put them in lower the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for ten minutes, switch the sheets on the racks and cook for another ten minutes.  Switch again and cook for another 5-7 minutes until golden brown