What to Eat in France: Flamiche aux Poireaux

Published by Thursday, July 30, 2015 Permalink 0
Follow us!Follow on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterFollow on Google+Pin on PinterestFollow on TumblrFollow on LinkedIn

French Recipe: Flamiche aux Poireaux, or Leek and Cheese Pie

by Jonell Galloway

Flamiche is a tart or pie or tourte or quiche from Picardy, depending on who you’re talking to. In Picardy, it is traditionally made with leeks or onions, and sometimes with pumpkin, which is eaten as a savory dish in much of the north of France. It is one of the main traditional starters offered in the region, along with Ficelle Picarde, a crêpe stuffed with ham and mushrooms and served with a cream sauce; Tarte Au Maroillles, a cheese tart, and Rissoles Laonnoises, meat or fish fritters.

Recipe

Ingredients

These are U.S. measurements. Click here for metric and British conversions.

2 9-inch pie crusts
1 1/2 lbs leeks, white only
2 oz. butter
2 egg yolks
1/2 c. crème fraîche
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg yolk for pie crust

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
  2. Cut whites of leeks into 1-inch long pieces.
  3. Blanch for 5 minutes in boiling salt water.
  4. Carefully drain.
  5. Melt butter. Add leeks. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and sautée for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove leeks from burner and let cool.
  7. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and cream.
  8. Add room temperature leeks.
  9. Line pie pan with one of the crusts.
  10. Prick with fork.
  11. Pour in leek mixture.
  12. Place second pie crust on top of this mixture.
  13. Use water to seal edges.
  14. Make a well in the middle of the flamiche.
  15. Mix an egg yolk with a little water and brush surface of flamiche so it will brown.
  16. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
  17. Serve hot with pickles and pickled onions or a green salad.

 

__________________________

I grew up on Wendell Berry and food straight from a backyard Kentucky garden. I live in France and Switzerland, and am a freelance writer specializing in French cuisine. I attended Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne cooking schools in Paris and the Académie du Vin, worked for the GaultMillau restaurant guide and CityGuides in France and Paris and for Gannett Company in the U.S., and collaborated on Le tour du monde en 80 pains / Around the World with 80 Breads with Jean-Philippe de Tonnac in France; André Raboud, Sculptures 2002-2009 in Switzerland; Ma Cuisine Méditerranéenne with Christophe Certain in France; At the Table: Food and Family around the World with Ken Albala, and a biography of French chef Pierre Gagnaire. I ran a cooking school in France, and owned a farm-to-table restaurant, The Three Sisters’ Café, with my two sisters in the U.S. I organize the Taste Unlocked bespoke food and wine tasting awareness workshops with James Flewellen, am an active member of Slow Food, and run the food writing website The Rambling Epicure. My work has been published in numerous international publications and I have been interviewed on international public radio in France, Switzerland, and the U.S. I just signed on at In Search of Taste, a British print publication, and am now working on two books, The French and What They Eat and What to Eat in Venice.

 

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Comments are closed.

UA-21892701-1