Wednesday 8 October 2008

Asparagus Flan

Asparagus is in season! Even though we do have an asparagus patch, it is still not as productive as we would like it to be. The fruit & veg shops are well-stocked with fresh asparagus, though.

This is the first time I tried my hand in flans. Wow! They are easy and delicious! Make a big one and you will have leftovers for lunch, too. It is delicious cold.

Flan straight out of the oven:Method:

Make short-crust pastry (or buy one). Line flan tin with it.
Crack 2-3 eggs into a bowl, add a little milk (1/4 - 1/2 cup or so), some cream cheese (1/4 - 1/2 cup), grated cheese (lots if you like it cheesy), season with salt & pepper and freshly chopped herbs.

Arrange asparagus in flan tin, pour egg/milk mixture on top. (If you would like to please a carnivore, add some ham when arranging the asparagus.)
Slide into pre-heated oven and bake at 180 - 200C for about 20-30 minutes or until it is set and golden on top. I like to sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top just before serving and let it brown up before you take it out of the oven.

Serve with a freshly picked garden salad.
The flan is also lovely with all kinds of roasted vegetables. Again, this is a recipe to play with. Use whatever you can find in your garden. Or fridge. Or pantry. :)
Ps.: Any tips on how to remove the bottom of the tin without having to juggle the whole tin like mad? You know, so that you are left with the flan bottom without the fluted sides? It's easy to slide the flan off the bottom after that.

2 comments:

Olive said...

Yes ! have something on the bench, a little smaller than the bottom of the flan tin and a little higher than the sides. Place the tin on this and the side of the tin should drop onto the bench, leaving the flan sitting up higher (if you get my drift)
I can give advice, but not too good at following it myself.

Veggie Gnome said...

Ah! Yes! Of course! *sound of hand slapping forhead*
So simple. Thank you so much. :)

Will follow this advice tonight. We are going to have roasted vegetable flan.