Author Notes
For this theme I wanted to make something light that would really show off the sweet spring pea, and after thinking about and discarding several ideas, flan wandered into my head and stayed ... the result is a delicate custard with an essence of peas and thyme, and then the occasional pop of a whole pea as you eat it. - aargersi —aargersi
Test Kitchen Notes
I am so glad that I picked this flan to test. One of my old standby starters and side dishes is a parmesan flan with spring pea puree. After trying aargersi's recipe, I have converted! I love her simple, tasty flan so much that I am making it again for my best friend's birthday. The only change I made was not with ingredients -- they were perfect -- I added more peas to the puree because I wanted a darker shade of green. The thyme adds just a nice spark of flavor that compliments the peas. I am definitely making this again! - dymnyno —The Editors
Ingredients
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1 cup
small sweet peas
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1/4 cup
heavy cream
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1 cup
whole milk
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2
large eggs
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a pinch of salt
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a pinch of white pepper
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1 teaspoon
lemon thyme (leaves only - no stems)
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1 tablespoon
grated parmesan
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butter for the ramekins
Directions
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Butter 4 ramekins. I did 2 in glass and 2 in ceramic to see which would release more easily ... it was a tie. Cover the bottom of each ramekin with peas. This will use about half of them.
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Blend the other half of the peas, the cream, and milk together for several minutes. Strain the mixture into a mixing bowl and discard the pea solids.
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Using high speed on your mixer or a strong arm ... whisk together the milk, eggs, salt, pepper and parmesan. Add in the thyme and whisk a bit more, the mixture should be frothy.
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Pour equal amounts of the custard into each ramekin, place the ramekins in a larger baking dish and fill it to halfway up the sides with cold water.
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Put the baking dish into a COLD oven - this is important in getting a nice smooth custard. Turn the oven to 350 and bake for 45 minutes (this includes the heating up time) or until the flans are not wiggly in the middle any more.
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Cool the flans, and then you can either serve room temperature or chilled ... slide a knife around the edge of each ramekin and give them a little nudge here and there to loosen them, then cover with your service plate and flip. Serve, enjoy, I am thinking prosecco ....
Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop
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