Dish Of The Month: Cheese And Tomato Flan

Published on: 15 Aug, 2018
Updated on: 13 Aug, 2018

by Hugh Coakley

Flans are always nice and easy to prepare but this recipe with tomatoes and spring onions adds a little something special. It bears no comparison with the bland supermarket quiches, leaving them standing.

This recipe comes (largely) from the book Vegetarian Kitchen by Sarah Brown which came out in 1984, just after we were married. It is still a brilliant book but a bit hard core when it comes to using wholewheat pastry and pastas.

Pastry isn’t so difficult to make but I wonder if it is worth it, especially when you can get such lovely ready made shortcrust and flaky pastry. I confess that I use ready made pastry, bought frozen so it is always handy.

Cheese and tomato flan, equally tasty hot or cold. Click on the image to enlarge it.

You need a 8in or 9in flan dish.

250g shortcrust pastry

6 tomatoes

1 bunch of spring onions

200g of grated cheddar cheese

3 eggs

150ml of milk or use single cream for extra richness

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Roll out the pastry in the flan dish, prick it all over with a fork and bake for 5 minutes until it has set. Put it aside to cool.

Peel the tomatoes. The tip is to score them with a sharp knife and then scald them in just-boiled hot water. The tomato skin tends to split and makes it relatively easy to peel. Cut the peeled tomatoes into thin slices.

That is the hardest bit over.

Next, clean the spring onions and finely chop them.

Spread half of the grated cheese onto the prepared flan. Then, arrange the tomato slices and sprinkle the spring onion on top.

Beat the eggs and the milk (or cream) until it is a uniform mixture and then mix in the remainder of the grated cheese. Season well.

Pour the mixture over the tomatoes and spring onions and bake for 35 minutes or until it has nicely risen and browned.

Serve up immediately with a green salad or a potato salad.

It is very tasty cold but I think it is at its best when it is still hot, risen and has a light texture.