Recipe: Classic French dish gets a veggie makeover
Cherry tomatoes peek through the herbs sprinkled over this savory clafoutis.
(Photos: Kathy Morrison)
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Gardening is full of surprises. This year one of mine came from the vigorous plant that I thought would give me ping-pong ball-size cherry tomatoes. Instead, they're the size of large peas, or maybe small marbles. And the plant is huge, taller than me, so there are tons of them.
Well, they're cute, but too small for a BLT, that's for sure.
So what to do with this wealth of tiny tomatoes? I was inspired by the very word "cherry." Sweet cherries are great in the French dessert called clafoutis. How about a savory clafoutis featuring this micro crop?
As it turns out, a savory clafoutis is a great brunch dish or appetizer that holds beautifully at room temperature. Not weepy, like a quiche can be, or eggy like a frittata. I used plenty of herbs and just a bit of cheese, but feel free to add more on top if you like.
Herbs and cheese go into the clafoutis along with tomatoes,
milk, flour and eggs.
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Savory cherry tomato clafoutis
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese (or fontina, Gruyere or cheddar)
3 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, basil, chives and thyme, divided
2-1/2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh grated black pepper, to taste
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (Wondra if you have it; it blends well)
About 2 cups small cherry tomatoes, stemmed
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Instructions:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-1/2-inch or 10-inch pie plate or baking dish. Whisk together in a large bowl the milk, 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon Parmesan, the mozzarella (or substitute), 2 tablespoons of the herbs, the melted butter, salt, pepper and the eggs.
Then whisk in the flour; it's OK if the mixture is a bit lumpy.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Gently sprinkle the tomatoes over the batter so they're evenly distributed. Then sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon Parmesan over the top. (Add more cheese of your choice here if you really like cheese and tomatoes.)
Bake for 20 minutes, or when the edges are golden brown and the center is set. Remove from the oven to cool and sprinkle the remaining herbs over the top.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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