Crespeou d’Avignon

CRESPEOU D'AVIGNON

Crespeou is a ‘pie’ made up of layers of mini-omelettes of various colours. The mini-omelettes are filled with herbs, vegetables, meat, etc. They are then stacked on top of each other in alternating colours. This Provençal recipe should be made the day before. Prepare each omelette with one beaten egg (you can increase the amount of eggs per omelette for a more substantial pie). Cook the omelettes in a small frying pan greased with a tablespoon of olive oil. Then layer them and wrap the resulting ‘pie’ in cling film and refrigerate overnight. The next day it can be cut into slices, just like a pie, and served with a mixed salad.

In the 14th century, peppers did not exist in Europe (they would arrive later, after the discovery of the Americas). But I propose it here, as a “poetic licence”.

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

12 eggs (one per omelette)
1 bunch of chives
1 bunch of parsley
5 sprigs of basil
100g black olives
100g ham
100g mushrooms
100g red peppers
150g tuna in oil
100g grated cheese
300g spinach
300g green chards
1 onion
25cl olive oil

Preparation:

Green
- with the chives, parsley, basil: cut the herbs into the beaten egg;
- with the spinach: sauté the spinach leaves in olive oil for a few minutes before cooking the omelette;
- with the green chards: follow the same procedure.

Black
- with the black olives: add the pitted and coarsely chopped black olives to the egg.

Pink
- with the cooked ham: add two slices of ham chopped into very small cubes,
- with the tuna in oil: simply mix the well-drained tuna with the egg

Yellow
- with the champignon mushrooms: peel and finely slice the mushrooms,
- with grated cheese, sprinkle the beaten eggs with the cheese;
- with the onions: peel and finely chop the onions and sauté them in the pan.

(Liana Marabini)