I was inspired to try this naturally gluten-free savory clafoutis recipe after seeing this blog post and video. (You can watch her video if you want to see it made – or just listen to her speak French).
A clafoutis is a quiche without the crust. Or more specifically, it’s fruit covered with an egg cream mix (for the sweet) or a vegetable covered with the egg, cream and cheese (for the savory). You can get my fig clafoutis recipe here.
Before we get to the recipe, I’ll give some personal news, I’ve been busy lately preparing for visits and upcoming trips (my next blog post will be on Dordogne, but it will be late since I’ll be traveling without my computer).
The fire in the Notre Dame felt awful – like a physical punch. I had to stop watching. But it’s nice to read about the things that were saved (priceless copper statues that were taken down for restoration, the rooster on the top of the spire that contained relics and was found in the rubble, the round stained glass windows and the organ – mostly. It’s going to take a long time for this to be a distant memory.
And I got my books in the mail – the author copies of A Regrettable Proposal. I don’t love being in front of the camera, but here is the instagram post of me opening my box, which had just arrived.
Getting back to the savory clafoutis – which is worth its salt – take three small zucchini, 4 tomatoes, and 2 cloves of garlic. Mince the garlic and chop the zucchini and tomatoes, then stir-fry everything in a teaspoon or two of olive oil.
I started the garlic and zucchini first then added the tomatoes, and to that I added a teaspoon of large grain sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon basil. You need to cook them for about 15 minutes. During this time, you can pre-heat the oven to 190°C (375°F)
While that’s cooking, crack four eggs in a bowl and whisk them. Measure 3/4 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cream and pour that in. Add a pinch of pepper (I put 1/8 teaspoon) and 50 grams of Maizena corn starch, which is almost a half-cup.
It’s about a half cup minus a heaping tablespoon. You can wing it or measure it. Put that in the egg cream mix and stir.
The corn starch helps the clafoutis to hold together, but it’s lighter than flour and is gluten-free.
Now grease a deep dish quiche pan. This one is 25 cm. Then put the cooked vegetables at the bottom.
Cover it with the egg and cream mixture, and place mozzarella slices on top of that. I used 250 grams of mozzarella because it was 2 packages of fresh mozzarella, and it perfectly covered the quiche. You could substitute Swiss cheese (emmental) – or for the more intrepid – chèvre or feta.
Bake it for 45 minutes. Now, I used a traditional oven since the confection component is broken. No matter which oven method you use, keep an eye on your clafoutis because it might be cooking too quickly. You may need to turn it or reduce the heat. But this is what it looks like when it comes out.
The house smells SO good.
And this is what it looks like, paired with a side salad that’s drizzled with Dijon mustard dressing.
(A rare cooking video of me making Dijon dressing is here in this blog post).
It’s so quick, so easy, so good.
- 3 zucchini
- 4 tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ¼ teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon large grain sea salt
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil to cook
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup milk (200 ml)
- ½ cup cream (100 ml)
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 50 grams corn starch (1/2 cup minus a heaping tablespoon)
- 250 grams mozzarella (8-9 oz)
- Preheat the oven to 190°C or 275°F.
- Wash, cut and cook the zucchini, tomatoes and garlic in olive oil for 15 minutes. I peeled the zucchini in strips, partly to make it pretty and partly to make it more tender.
- Add the salt and basil to the vegetable mix.
- Beat the eggs and add the milk, cream, pepper and corn starch.
- When the vegetables are done, butter a 25cm quiche pan and put the vegetables in the bottom.
- Pour the egg-cream mix over the vegetables.
- Slice the mozzarella and place the slices around the quiche pan evenly.
- Cook for 45 minutes. Serve warm with a side salad.
Thank you, those of you, who left comments on my last post or sent me emails. I appreciate you. Stay tuned for the prehistoric caves of Lascaux, which will be my next blog post in a little more than 2 weeks.
