After a few days of eating healthy foods, you probably feel like you should add a little bit of sweetness to your diet too. Enter the custard-flavored clafoutis and their wondrous purple hue. It’s all about a wonderfully rich custard, lightening the load of ingredients needed to dole out a sort of luxe dessert.
This savory version of clafoutis combines a puréed sauce with Swiss chard, corn, and black truffle for such an intriguing meal. A minor quibble is that the chard stalks end up being chopped off in the process — but even if they did get left out, it still would be a treat. After all, this kind of bite-size cornmeal pudding can just pack a powerful flavor punch.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 baguette, cut in half crosswise
- 1 medium-sized bunch chard, trimmed and chopped into 2-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup crème fraîche
- 2 tablespoons double cream
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup black truffle oil
- 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
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1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Heat oil and butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium heat until translucent and slightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
- Add carrots and cook 2 minutes, stirring. Stir in bread and chard, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in flour, thyme, and lemon juice. Cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Cut into 4 equal-sized chunks and stir in crème fraîche, double cream, and cream. Add Parmesan and black truffle oil and continue to whisk until thickenened, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle cheese and chives over the top and serve warm.
- Photo by Melissa Clark