Let’s start using the Béchamel sauce I introduced recently.
We can think of Flan as an easy version of soufflé since its preparation doesn’t need as much culinary skill and one doesn’t need to worry that it flattens when it cools down.
It can be served as a warm appetizer or as a light entrée, typically with a warm sauce
(my recipe suggests two very easy ones).
Ingredients:
(Serves 8) A B V
- 3 lb. of organic spinach
- 7 oz. heavy whipping cream
- 1 & ½ cup of warm milk
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (plus some for greasing)
- 2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs + 1 yolk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp. of breadcrumbs
Preheat the oven at 360 F (180 C).
Wash the spinach and cook for 5 minutes with just the water clinging to their leaves. Let them cool down, squeeze them to get the water out and chop them finely.Transfer them into a pan with 2 Tbsp. of butter, salt them and cook on medium heat until all the remaining water has evaporated, stirring often.
Add the whipping cream and keep cooking, always stirring, until creamy and no longer watery. Remove from heat and let cool down.
Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel sauce.
Warm up the milk in a saucepan.
Melt 4 Tbsp. of butter in another saucepan. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time, constantly stirring, and cook for five minutes making sure that the mixture remains a nice yellow color and doesn’t turn brown.
Add the hot milk a little at a time, stirring fast, and without forming any lumps.
Add salt and pepper, the nutmeg and cook for 10 minutes, always stirring.
Add the béchamel and the Parmesan cheese to the spinach, stir, and add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well with a wooden spoon to amalgamate the mixture.
Grease a flan mold with some butter, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, then pour the spinach mixture into the mold.
Carefully place the mold in a larger ovenproof pan, half-filled with water at simmering point, and bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes at 360 F.
Remove from the mold and serve warm.
Serving suggestions:
Mix 1 cup of tomato sauce with ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream, add 1 pinch of salt, cook on medium heat – always stirring – for 5 minutes to get a silky sauce, and serve it with the spinach flan;
or:
Roast 3 bell peppers (see recipe), puree them, add ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream, 1 pinch of salt, cook on medium heat for 5 minutes – always stirring – to get a silky sauce, and serve it with the spinach flan.