Usually when I think of clafoutis I think about a traditional French dessert of cherries cooked in a thick sweet batter. This week, I’ve taken the concept and turned it into a savoury dish which can be an entrée or lunch with a green salad. Last weekend I bought lots of small white onions from Terry Lister and I had plenty of tomatoes in my garden. Wanting to do something different I decided to make a savoury clafoutis. It was really delicious.
Ingredients
About 400g tomatoes – larger than cherry but still small
About 8-9 small white onions
6 eggs
2 tbsps tomato paste
2 tsps cornflour
200ml cream
Fresh thyme leaves
Olive oil
Butter
Salt and pepper
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Generously butter a gratin dish.
Cut off both ends of the onions and peel. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and add the onions. Shake them around to coat with oil and turn the pan down. Cover and gently brown and soften the onions for about 10-15 minutes.
While they are cooking prepare the batter. Beat the eggs in large bowl. In another bowl mix together the tomato paste, cornflour and cream making sure it’s smooth. Season. Then mix this into the beaten eggs and add the thyme leaves.
Pour the batter into your greased gratin dish. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and place the onions and tomatoes in the batter. Return the dish to the oven and cook for another 25-30 minutes until the batter is brown and puffy.
Serve warm or at room temperature. If you feel like decorating the clafoutis a little for serving, keep 4-5 tomato stalk tops and place them on some of the tomatoes.