Pumpkin and porcini mushroom flan

Name: Pumpkin and porcini mushroom flan
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: Delica pumpkin 1 lb; Fine salt to taste; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Black pepper to taste; Thyme to taste; Water ¾ cup; Heavy cream ¾ cup; Eggs (around 4) 4; Grana Padano PDO cheese 3 oz; Fine salt to taste; Black pepper to taste; Nutmeg to taste; Thyme to taste; Porcini mushrooms 8 oz; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Garlic 1 clove; Black pepper to taste; Fine salt to taste; Thyme to taste; Grana Padano PDO cheese to taste

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Vegetarian

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Serving: 8 people
Cost: High

PRESENTATION

Flans are mostly made with meat or vegetables and are a delicious dinner idea everyone loves. With autumn here, we thought we'd prepare pumpkin and porcini mushroom flan, perfect served as a starter or as a vegetarian second course for a lovely Sunday lunch. A soft and fluffy pumpkin flan, thanks to it being cooked in a bain-mairie, as well as the egg and cream mixture to which the previously braised pumpkin is added. We've used some simply pan-fried porcini mushrooms to decorate, along with lashings of Grana Padano DOP cheese shards, which balance the sweetness of the pumpkin with their rich savory flavor. A pinch of nutmeg and a few thyme sprigs will season this dish, although you could replace them with your favorite aromatic herbs! Let's discover just how simple it is to make this flan!

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INGREDIENTS

Ingredients (for cooking the pumpkin): Delica pumpkin 1 lb (850 g); Fine salt to taste; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Black pepper to taste; Thyme to taste; Water ¾ cup (150 g)

For the flan (for a 7.52x4" mold): Heavy cream ¾ cup (210 g); Eggs 4 (220 g) - (around 4); Grana Padano PDO cheese 3 oz (100 g); Fine salt to taste; Black pepper to taste; Nutmeg to taste; Thyme to taste

For the porcini mushrooms: Porcini mushrooms 8 oz (250 g); Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Garlic 1 clove; Black pepper to taste; Fine salt to taste; Thyme to taste

For decoration: Grana Padano PDO cheese to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Pumpkin and porcini mushroom flan

To prepare pumpkin and porcini mushroom flan, start by cleaning the pumpkin. Remove the seeds and the skin 1; cut and then dice the pumpkin 2, so that you end up 1 lb. Place it in a saucepan with a drizzle of oil 3.

Add thyme, salt and pepper 4. Add the water too 5 and cook with the lid on for around 20 minutes 6.

When done, blend it with an immersion mixer 7 and leave to cool until warm. Once the pumpkin has cooled down, break the eggs open, place them in a bowl and add the thyme leaves 8. Add the cream too 9 and beat with a whisk.

Add the 3.5 oz of grated Grana Padano DOP cheese 10, the salt 11, the pepper and the nutmeg. Stir thoroughly and lastly, add the pumpkin 12.

Place the mixture in a buttered 7.5"x4" sponge cake mold (2.8 inches tall) lined with parchment paper. Place the mold on a baking tray 13 and pour hot, but not boiling water onto the tray 14. Do not fill it right to the top: roughly 3/4 of the baking tray will be enough. Now cook in this bain-marie in a preheated static oven at 356° for 90 minutes.

Clean the porcini mushrooms in the meantime. Remove the parts of the stalk covered in soil and brush any remaining soil away 16. When the flan is nearly done, cut the mushrooms into slices 17. Place a drizzle of oil in a pan with two unpeeled garlic cloves. Leave to brown, then add the mushrooms 18.

Add a couple of thyme sprigs 19. Add salt, pepper, and cook for 5-6 minutes on a low flame 20. Remove the flan from the oven as soon as it is done 21.

Wait around ten minutes, then lift the mold, dry and turn it over on a serving plate 22. Remove the parchment paper 23 and top with the porcini mushrooms and the Granda Padano DOP cheese shards 24. Your flan is ready to be served.