Mini skinny leek-gruyere flamiches is my take on the northern France dish called Flamiche. The traditional recipe is a kind of quiche filled with leeks and a touch of cheese. It’s quite an easy dish, plus you’ll get some great leftovers for lunch since those tiny leek flamiches are as good warm or cold. You can prepare them in advance for a picnic, party or camping and they stay great for 2 days, still crunchy and flaky on the outside and smooth and savory on the inside. They are so polyvalent, you can have them for breakfast, lunch, as a snack or dinner. They always fit right in, on the go or at the table served with a nice green salad and a good riesling, those little bites are quite adaptable.

The flamiche usually use a lot of cream, for this skinny version, I’ve done a velouté (bechamel with broth instead of milk) instead to lower the calorie intake. Also, I’ve used my favorite trick to bring down the calories; I’ve used phyllo lightly sprayed with olive oil instead of the filled with butter flaky pastry. The result is a lighter, yet still crunchy, creamy and tasty flamiche. It’s suitable for lactose intolerant and ovo-vegetarian people, simply omit the cheese and you’ll get a lactose free version of those mini flamiches. The gruyere could also be substituted by goat cheese (lactose free).

Leeks are too little used, I believe, they are a great vegetable, however often forgotten. Those long onions are the highlight of this recipe, and of course a good gruyere is making it a touch more interesting, no need to invade it with cheese, especially if you use the real gruyere, it’s a quite strong cheese, just a touch will do.

So… let’s make those delicious mini leeks flamiches going!

Mini Leek-Gruyere Flamiches

Ingredients

• 3 leeks (white part) cut on the length into 4 (check the picture) to clean them good then cut them into fine slices
• 260g phyllo sheets
• 3 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil + some for the phyllo
• 3 tbsp of flour
• 100ml of cold vegetable broth
• 100g of gruyere cheese (or emmental, comté, mature cheddar, etc.)
• 2 eggs (separate 1 yolk to spread over the flamiches at the end)
• nutmeg
• salt, pepper

Directions

1. In a pan, soften the leeks in a bit of olive oil and salt, medium-low heat, until half it’s original size
2. Add the 3 tbsp of olive and the flour to the leeks, mix
3. Let cook the flour for about a minute or 2
4. Add the cold vegetable broth, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix
   well, bring the heat to medium high and whisk constantly until it becomes thicker
5. Take off the fire and add half of the cheese, mix and let cool down by the window
6. On a dry and clean working space, stack the phyllo sheets over one another with a light spray (or brush) of olive oil in between sheets (I had 2 packs of 6 legal size sheets, so 12 sheets thick)
7. Cut the phyllo into 12cm squares
8. Add them to a silicon muffin mold (or lightly greased metal one) and push down the bottom to make it fit the mold
9. Crack the 2 eggs (reserve one yolk) and add to the leek mix
10. Add the mixture to the phyllo cups and fill them up
11. Brush them lightly with the yolk
12. Add the rest of the cheese on top and cook at 200°C (375F) on the lower level of the oven for 20 minutes or until the phyllo turns light brown
13. Let cool a bit before taking them out from the mold
14. Serve

Enjoy with a green salad and a good white wine!