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cup heavy cream
    ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
    Pinch of cayenne paper
    2 cups coarsely grated melting cheese, such as Gruyère, Emmentaler, Fontina, or Monterey jack
    To make the crust, place the 1¼ cups of flour and salt in a food processor and pulse once to mix. Cut the butter into ½-inch pieces and scatter over the flour. Pulse until the mixture is somewhat crumbly. Add the water and pulse again until the mixture adheres when squeezed between your fingers. Gather the dough into a loose ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Press into a smooth disk and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.
    Preheat the oven to 400°F.
    On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a round about 2 inches larger than a 9- to 10-inch tart pan. Transfer the round to the pan, easing it into the bottom and up the sides. Fold in any excess dough hanging above the top and press it against the pan so it adheres. Prick the crust all across the bottom with a fork.
    Bake until barely golden on the bottom and around the edges, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside, leaving the oven on.
    To make the filling, rinse the spinach and shake off the excess water, leaving the spinach slightly moist. Place in a microwave-safe bowl or in a sauté pan. Cover and place in the microwave oven, or cover and cook on the stove top over medium heat until wilted but still bright green, 1 to 2 minutes by either method. Let cool, squeeze out the remaining moisture, and set aside.
    Add just enough oil to a small sauté pan to film the bottom and place over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring to break up the clumps, until beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and spread the sausage across the bottom of the partially baked crust.
    Combine the eggs, cream, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk in the cheese and stir in the spinach. Pour the custard mixture into the crust.
    Bake until the filling puffs up and is golden on top and a fork inserted in the center comes out clean but still a little moist, about 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Toulouse Sausage–Stuffed Duck Legs with White Beans
    On my brief sojourn in the Toulouse area, I traveled to many local villages and towns acclaimed for their charcuterie. Among them was Castelnaudary, a small village built of stone, close by the fairy-tale-like medieval castle of Carcassonne. The castle was a thrill; even more so was the cassoulet I enjoyed in Castelnaudary, known as the cradle of cassoulet. I mustered the nerve to ask the chef what his secret was. He graciously shared his version of “the cassoulet secret”: The kind of beans you use is crucial. They should be lingot beans, also called white kidney beans or cannellini beans, or coco beans, which resemble slightly elongated navy beans. Both are sweetly buttery and cook up soft and tender enough to soak up juices, but still hold their shape. Then, the beans must be allowed to cool completely in their cooking liquid before assembling the cassoulet. Overnight is best.
    Stuffed whole duck legs (drumstick and thigh combination) make a delectable sausage star for a faux cassoulet. To sidestep the lengthy process of curing the duck overnight then braising it in duck fat to make confit, the whole legs are sprinkled with a salt and herb seasoning and refrigerated for a few hours to allow the seasonings to imbue. The sausage is then stuffed under the thigh skin, making a single package of sausage and duck meat.
    SERVES 6
    1½ teaspoons coarse sea salt
    6 fresh thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    ¾ teaspoon juniper berries, crushed
    ¾ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
    6 whole duck legs, 7 to 8 ounces each
    2½ cups dried cannellini, coco, or Great Northern beans
    1 teaspoon kosher salt
    ¾ pound Toulouse Sausage
    1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or duck fat
    3 cups chicken broth
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