Roasted-Vegetable Clafoutis

Amarante

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 12:39 pm

The roasted vegetables can be made the day before so that assembling is really simple and not a potchke or at least a relatively easy potchke that makes a nice "statement" as a side for dish. Since it combines carb and veggie it's two dishes in one although I make a green tossed salad so the meal seems more balanced in terms of "textures".

As stated, you can sub non-colorful veggies if you can't find the colorful ones in the store. I am lucky as the only difficult veggie to find is orange cauliflower Very Happy

Romanesco Broccoli is actually easier to check than regular broccoli but really any sturdy green vegetable could be subbed. It's more about the colors than the specific flavor profile so the very available purple potato is an easy sub for the purple sweet potato.

The washing and cleaning procedure for fresh Romanesco Broccoli is as follows: 1. Remove green leaves from head. 2. Cut head into 8 pieces. 3. Prepare bowl of water mixed with vegetable wash. 4. Place (cut) Romanesco Broccoli into bowl of water, and agitate for 30 seconds. 5. Remove Romanesco Broccoli from
water. Check water using the thrip- cloth method above - this is from the Chicago Rabbinical Council guidelines for fresh produce.

Roasted-Vegetable Clafoutis

In a clever twist on clafoutis (a dessert of fruit baked in a sweet custardy batter), Grace Parisi makes this savory version by baking colorful roasted vegetables in a light one flavored with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. If any of the less-common ingredients, such as orange cauliflower and purple sweet potatoes, aren’t available, feel free to substitute whichever similar vegetables are.

Ingredients

ROASTED VEGETABLES

* 8 medium carrots of varying colors (3/4 pound)
* 6 baby beets of varying colors (about 4 ounces), scrubbed
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
* 6 fingerling potatoes 2 small purple sweet potatoes (3/4 pound total)
* 2 heads baby orange cauliflower (about 4 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch florets
* 1/2 small head Romanesco broccoli, cut into 3/4-inch florets (3 cups)
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground pepper

BATTER
* 1 3/4 cups half-and-half
* 4 large eggs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for sprinkling
* Kosher salt
* Softened butter, for greasing

How to Make It

Step 1    roast the vegetables

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Spread the carrots and beets on 2 separate sheets of foil and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Fold up the edges of the foil sheets to make two sealed packets.

On a small baking sheet, rub the fingerling and sweet potatoes with olive oil and prick them all over with a fork.

In a medium baking dish, toss the cauliflower and broccoli florets with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Roast the broccoli and cauliflower for about 15 minutes, the potatoes for about 30 minutes and the carrots and beets for about 35 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender and the broccoli and cauliflower are browned in spots.

Let cool slightly. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into quarters lengthwise; peel the fingerling potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Season the roasted vegetables lightly with salt and pepper.

Step 2    make the batter

In a blender, combine the half-and-half with the eggs, flour, 1/2 cup of the cheese and 2 teaspoons salt and blend until smooth.

Step 3    make the batter

Butter a 9-inch-square glass or ceramic baking dish and sprinkle all over with cheese. Arrange the vegetables in the baking dish in 2 stacked layers, lining them up in the same direction. Pour the batter on top. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese and bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, until puffed, golden and set; cover the dish with foil halfway through to prevent over-browning. Let the clafoutis cool slightly, then cut into squares and serve.

Make Ahead

The roasted vegetables can be refrigerated overnight. Return to room temperature before baking.