Flan di verdure - Vegetable flan
I got this recipe from the vegetarian cooking book "Ricette verdi", published by De Agostini.
Ingredients (for about 6 servings)
- 300 gr. courgettes (zucchini)
- 300 gr. green beans
- 3 medium onions (2 + 1)
- 2 carrots (personal addition)
- 80 gr. butter (30 + 30 + 20)
- 50 gr. Parmesan
- 300 gr. milk
- 2 eggs
- 30 gr. flower
- 2 jellow bell peppers
- 300 gr. tomato puree (I use canned tomatoes and I reduce them in puree with the food processor)
- a teaspoon of sugar
- salt, pepper, and sauce thickener
Preparation
Steam the vegetables (green beans, courgettes, carrots and 2 onions)
until they are cooked but still firm (about 10 minutes for the
courgettes, 20 min for all the others). Put 30 gr. of butter in a
pan, add the steamed vegetables and salt, and let cook at low fire for
about 10 min, stirring from time to time. Prepare a tick bechamel
with 30 gr. of butter, 30 gr. of flower, 300 gr. of milk. Salt to
taste. Reduce the vegetables to a puree with the "passaverdure" and
incorporate them into the bechamel. (Note: the "passaverdure" is a sort
of sieve with holes of about 3 mm diameter. if you don't have it you
can probably puree the vegetables with a food processor -- but don't
process them too much, the vegetable puree should look more like
minced vegetables than like cream). Add the scrambled eggs, the grated Parmesan,
and salt to taste. Mix well. Grease and flower an oven pan (or
several small ones -- I use a muffin tin). Put the mixture in the pan
and double-boil in the oven at 200 degrees for about 50 min. (30-40 min
if you use several small containers). Note: double-boil means to have
the pan inside a larger pan containing a bit of water.
Prepare now the sauce: cut one onion finely, put it in a pan with
20 gr butter, and saute' until it becomes golden. Add the bell
peppers cut in fine stripes (eliminate the seeds and the white part
inside). Let it cook for about 10 minutes, then add the tomato puree,
the sugar. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook covered, at low heat, for
about half an hour. Add a bit of thickener at the end.
When the flan is ready, invert the pan on a serving dish, remove
the pan, and add the sauce all around the flan.
Buon appetito! - Catuscia