Serves 6-8
Preparation time: 30 minutes.
Cooking time: 1 hour in total.
Drink suggestion:Light red wine, or chilled crisp white wine
Squash, onions, leeks are all at their best at the moment - just add a little cheese and you have a wonderful starter or main course.
Ingredients
1 x25cm x 4cm deep flan tin with cooked pastry and docked well.
1 small leek, shredded and washed well
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 tbsp olive oil
1kg raw squash, really roasted well, with a little oil and salt and pepper until well coloured and cooked - this will yield about 450g cooked flesh
1 pint full fat milk
2 medium eggs
2 medium egg yolks
½ tsp cornflour or arrowroot
2 small bunches parsley, roughly chopped
115g grated cheddar cheese
salt
pepper
Method
1. Pre heat the oven to 190C/ gas mark 5.
2. Brush the base with beaten egg and cook for 15 minutes to seal the well - this will stop the base going soggy too quickly.
3. Heat the olive oil, then add the well-drained leeks, onions and garlic, then cook for 10 minutes to soften nicely.
4. Chop the roasted squash and place into a bowl, then add the leeks, onions and garlic, mix well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together, then season well with salt and pepper. Add all the chopped parsley.
6. Spoon the vegetables into the base of the flan evenly, then sprinkle over the cheese.
7. Place the flan onto a baking sheet and pour over half the milk and egg mixture.
8. Carefully place into the preheated oven and fill right up - this prevents spills in the kitchen, trust me.
9. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until just set.
10. Remove from the oven and cool slightly, then cut.
11. Serve at room temperature with a nice green salad.
Want to cook eggs like Phil? Try the following: