You may ask, “What the heck is a quittata?” Well my husband just coined the name after I made this dish which was not quite a frittata nor a quiche but something in between. Either way, it was absolutely delicious. What really made it was the Maple Balsamic Caramelized Garlic. OMG!! And to top it  off, it was a really beautiful dish as well. This would be great for a brunch. I served it as part of a celebrate summer harvest feast. Who knows, quittatas could become trendy.

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes, about 2 – 21/2 pounds, peeled and cut into 1/4″ pieces

Olive oil

5 large eggs

3 heads of garlic, cloves peeled

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar (I used a delicious dark chocolate balsamic)

1 tbsp. pure maple syrup

1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 tsp chopped thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

Sea Salt

3 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese

2 heads chard, leaves removed, washed and roughly chopped

3/4 cup crème fraiche

3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put sweet potato in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil (I used a Tuscan herb olive oil) and season with salt and pepper. Roast the potatoes until tender about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.  Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, boil the garlic cloves in salted boiling water until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes, drain. Wipe saucepan dry and add in olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring continuously until cloves are golden brown. Add vinegar and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until garlic is very tender about 10 minutes. Add maple syrup, rosemary and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Reduce liquid until syrupy and all the garlic is coated with the syrup.

Place a little oil in a large saute pan and saute the chard until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Oil a large quiche pan. I used an 11″ ceramic pie plate. Put the sweet potato pieces in the pan and mash gently with a fork. Sprinkle grated cheese over sweet potato. Top with sautéed chard. Whisk together the crème fraiche, eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper. Pour over chard. Place garlic cloves in the custard gently, spreading out garlic to look decorative. Drizzle the syrup over the custard. Bake until custard is set and golden brown in spots, 35 – 40 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve.