eggless mini-gratins

on the night that i made the gratin for dinner, i found out just in the nick of time that the friend i had invited to share it with me was actually allergic to eggs (whoops!). here is what i made for her instead:

follow the gratin recipe (below), minus beating the eggs. just before you would mix everything together, reserve a little bit less than a cup of greens and set them aside in a small bowl. continue to make the regular gratin.

for the mini gratins (you have plenty of time to do this while the main gratin is cooking):

take the bowl of reserved greens, add about 1/4 cup of cooked quinoa and 2 tsp olive oil. stir so that the olive oil coats everything. add 1/8 to 1/4 cup gruyere to the mixture and stir well. meanwhile, butter 2 muffin spots of a muffin tin. press breadcrumbs onto the butter and try to get as many as possible to stick. also sprinkle some on the bottom of the tins.

scoop the mixture into the two buttered tins and pack it in firmly. sprinkle a little bit more cheese on top, then some bread crumbs and finally drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. pop these in the oven for the last 12 minutes that the gratin has to cook. when they're done, run a knife around the mini-gratin and carefully lift it out like a very fragile muffin. it should hold together without being offensively cheesy.

it is a comparable and cute eggless alternative.