This savory clafoutis turns on its head the traditional sweet baked custard dessert with whole cherries by using cherry tomatoes instead. Food styling by Julie Giuffrida.
Yes, I know, you can buy cherry tomatoes year-round in grocery stores, and yes, they are very good, thanks to mostly being grown in greenhouses. But there is still that first-of-the-season thrill you get when you see them pop up in farmers markets, which doesn’t happen when you see their grocery store cousins. They’re also the most perfect type of tomato, in my humble opinion. They’re super-sweet, low in acidity and easy to pop in your mouth as a snack .
But, taking a cue from their name, I decided to try out a new idea and came up with this, a savory clafoutis made with the tiny tomato orbs. Traditionally a baked sweet egg custard that’s dotted with whole, unpitted cherries , I decided to swap out sugar for cheese and minced herbs, then dot the tiny tomatoes throughout, their inherent fruity sweetness mimicking the cherry’s but with their characteristic acidity to balance it.