Savory Tomato and Spinach Clafoutis
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Baked feta with cherry tomatoes is an awesome combination. Just ask Jenni Hayrinen a Finnish food blogger. In 2018 Jenni posted a recipe for an oven-baked cherry tomato and feta pasta dish on tik Tok. The recipe became so popular that grocery stores couldn’t keep up with the demand. Finland was out of feta—5.5 million people! When the craze arrived on our shores the demand for feta was up 200% in seven states. Feta was one of the top requests on Instacart. I’m not a tik Tok subscriber but I get it.
Feta is a versatile food, especially this time of year. Greek salad, a combination of feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and olives topped with a drizzle of olive oil and sherry vinegar is a staple in our house. Another is orzo pasta salad with roasted vegetables and crumbled feta. It’s also great whipped into a dip with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, lemon, parsley and garlic, or just marinated chunks with a great olive oil and freshly chopped herbs.
Also, especially great this time of year, are cherry tomatoes. I rarely buy fresh tomatoes out of season unless I plan to cook with them. Roasting tomatoes is an easy way to sweeten and intensify their flavor. The trick is to get the right amount of oil. If you use too much, your tomatoes are greasy, if you use too little they burn. Cherry tomatoes have a jammy texture when you roast them. The flesh gets almost paste-like as the water evaporates. Easily spreadable on a baguette. When they’re out of season, I roast cherry tomatoes along with onions and garlic for a fresh-tasting enchilada sauce.
Last month I showed readers how to use up their big tomatoes in a pasta. This month’s recipe is perfect for those extra cherry tomatoes; it’s adapted from La Tartine Gourmande by Beatrice Peltre. I substituted fresh spinach for the zucchini, skipping the step of having to cook the zucchini. This dish hits all the flavor notes—slightly sweet from the sautéed red onions and balsamic vinegar, salty from the feta and creamy from the custard. You could use it as a filling for a quiche, but it is good just by itself.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs. fresh spinach washed, approx. 4 cups
3 tablespoons of grapeseed oil
1 cup of thinly sliced red onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ pints of cherry tomatoes washed and dried—save about 10 with tops on for the top
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 eggs beaten
½ cup milk
1/3 cup corn starch
½ cup of heavy cream
¾ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Preheat oven to 400°
Directions:
Wash spinach and set aside to drain in a colander. Coat a 10” baking pan with grapeseed or canola oil.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and then add oil, red onion, thyme, and the salt. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions start to soften. If they start to brown turn the heat down. Stir in the minced garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant. Take the pan off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar and the tomatoes—reserve the stemmed ones for the top.
Next, add the corn starch to a large measuring cup and using a fork, slowly pour in the milk breaking up any lumps until incorporated. Now add the eggs, the cream, and the parmesan cheese to the measuring cup.
Place the spinach in the bottom of the prepared 10” pan, add the tomato onion mixture in an even layer to cover the spinach. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Push the reserved tomatoes into the vegetables and sprinkle the feta cheese on top. Cook for 30 minutes, or until bubbling. Serve hot or at room temperature with a green salad and baguette.