Shape shifting dinners, and a lazy tart

Shape shifting dinners, and a lazy tart

Same ingredient, differen form = totally different meal


This week I have been obsessed with a posh version of my 'usual' frittata: 

I'm calling it a 'lazy tart'.

It's not really a tart. Not in the traditional sense. But it feels like one, which is kind of the point.

It was inspired by this recipe from the Stone Soup blog.

Here's how it works:

  • You scatter some almond flour at the bottom of a baking dish (I like adding some ground flaxseed too)
  • You add a layer of beaten eggs. (This will seep into the almond flour and set into a sort of magic fake crust.)
  • Then whatever sautéed veg or filling extras you like
  • Then a layer of cheese (or not), maybe some herbs
  • And then you bake it until golden and set

That's it. It's basically a frittata with a bottom layer.

But this one small tweak - the illusion of a crust - changes the whole feel of the dish.
It tastes like a treat. Feels a little posh. And takes no more effort than my usual fridge-clear-out frittata.

And that's the thing about cooking: you don't need more recipes - you need a different way of looking at what you cook already.

Most people don't see how the same handful of ingredients can take wildly different shapes - all depending on how you cook them. Your tried and tested recipe is just one possibility.

Take the humble egg, for example. Add some veg, maybe a bit of cheese, and then take it into any direction: Omelette? Frittata? Quiche? Pie? Tart? Shakshuka?

Same players. Different stage.
And the eating experience? Totally different. Every time.

And that's just one of many forms your ingredients can take:

  • A frittata sets thickly, usually in the oven
  • An omelette is just a folded version cooked in a stovetop pan
  • A quiche adds pastry (and cream)
  • A Greek-style pita adds filo pastry - top and bottom
  • A shakshuka flips it all around: eggs sit on the veg, rather than mixed in

They're all riffs on the same idea.

The only thing that changes is the form

And the form matters when it comes to how it feels to eat.
The eating experience changes, not because of a new ingredient, but because of a new angle.
A shift in structure. The delight of same-but-different.

Next time you're about to make a familiar-but-stale recipe, let your imagination take over: What else could it become?
Try a new shape. A new structure. A new method. Just for the fun of it.

You may discover your new favourite recipe blueprint.

(I made this lazy tart 3 times already... with greens and feta cheeese, with broad beans, mint and goats cheese, and with spicy beef mince and cheddar)

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PS. Want to learn more about spotting these patterns and flipping them into something new? That's exactly what we do in my new workshop, The (Un)Recipe Lab. Come turn your old meals into new favourites.

PPS. If you prefer some straight up pattern inspiration, try the No-Recipe Blueprints (free download!)



Categories: : COOK, EXPLORE

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