Clafoutis aux épinards, oignons, et pommes de terre

If you don't know what a French clafoutis is, then you are missing out on something that's really good to eat and really easy to make. If the word clafoutis is confusing or mysterious, just think of it as a quiche sans pâte — a crustless quiche. There's no need to make a pie crust. Instead, just some flour to the custard mixture. For examples of crustless quiche recipes, some sweet (for dessert) and some savory (for an appetizer or main course), click this link.

To make this crustless spinach quiche, the first thing you do is cook some spinach. I cook frozen spinach in the microwave, at high or medium high temperature, for 10 or 12 minutes, stirring it a couple of times with a fork during the cooking time, until it is thawed, cooked, and tender. Then drain it well. While the spinach is cooking, peel and chop an onion, peel and finely dice a couple of medium-size potatoes. Sauté the vegetables in butter or oil and add the spinach to the pan. If you want it, sauté some bacon, ham, chicken, or turkey cut into small pieces. Mix the meat and vegetables together in a pie plate. (I'll list the quantities at the end of this post.)

When the cooked meat, spinach, onions, and potatoes, are in the pie plate, arrange some cubes of cheese (your choice — soft goat cheese, mozzarella, ricotta, cheddar, swiss, edam, gouda... I used mild ewe's-milk cheese) over the top. Separately, in a bowl or measuring cup, beat four eggs with a whisk. Then add half a cup of flour and continue whisking until it's all mixed in. Finally, add a cup of milk (or cream, or a mixture like half-and-half) and stir well. This is the custard. Season it with a little bit of salt, some black pepper, and a pinch or grating of nutmeg.

Pour the custard into the pie plate, over the spinach etc., moving everything around gently with a fork to make sure the custard coats everything and gets all the ingredients covered. The flour-egg mixture will form a sort of crust as the clafoutis cooks in the oven. Because you're going to bake it.

Bake the clafoutis in the oven, pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF), for 30 to 40 minutes. Turn the heat down if the clafoutis starts to brown too much. Keep an eye on it. The custard will puff up and the cheese will melt. The clafoutis will "fall" as it cools, but don't worry about that. Serve and eat wedges of it hot, warm, or cold.

Here are ingredients and quantities:

2 Tbsp. butter or oil (for frying the flavor ingredients)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1½ cups diced potato (two medium potatoes)
10 oz. (300 grams) frozen spinach, cooked and drained of excess liquid
4 eggs, beaten
½ cup (60 grams) flour
1 cup milk and/or cream

salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste
cheese as you please