Individual Caramelised Onion and Roquefort Clafoutis
Savoury cheese & onion custard
(Clafoutis aux Oignons Caramélisés et au Roquefort)
Adapted from French Comfort Food by Hillary Davis
Clafoutis are the iconic dessert flans made with black cherries in the Limousin region of France. To make a savory one, you just eliminate the fruit and sugar and add whatever you wish. For this rendition, I've chosen Roquefort, the creamy sharp blue cheese made in caves in southwest France, and caramelized onions. The AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) guarantees the authenticity and quality of a product. As the flagship of French food, Roquefort has the oldest appellation and was the first French cheese to achieve this status in 1925. For a cheese to deserve the Roquefort mark, it must meet stringent specifications including natural and human factors, implying a close link between the product, the land of its production, and the skills of the people living there.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (110 g) Roquefort, sliced into 4 equal slices (se Note)
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 cracks freshly ground pepper
- freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180° C)
- Butter the gratin dishes.
- In a skillet, melt the butter and cook the onion on medium-low heat until tender, about 8 minutes.
- Add the sugar, turn up the heat to medium high, and cook until the onions turn golden brown and are caramelized
- Whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, flour, milk, cream, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.
- Divide the onions in the bottoms of the gratin dishes, add a slice of cheese, gently pour the egg mixture over the top, and sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and puffed.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can substitute the Roquefort with any blue cheese, and the milk and cream with fat-free half-and-half.
- Instead of Roquefort and onions, try finely chopped walnuts and thinly sliced pears, mushrooms and cheese, zucchini and cherry tomatoes, figs and goat cheese, shallots and mussels, or bacon and eggs for a breakfast or brunch clafoutis. Pair any of these with a crisp white wine. Trés bon indeed!
- I like to crumble up the cheese and mix the cheese & onions with the batter, otherwise it just clumps in the middle of the dish
- You can make the onions and batter ahead of time (and crumble the cheese). Microwave the onions a little, make sure the batter is well mixed and assemble before cooking
- these can be a little dense; I haven't tried it yet, but they may benefit from being in a water bath