September 22, 2004

Zucchini Flan with Tomato Coulis

Description:
This recipe is from the New York Times "Dining In" Section, September 3, 2003.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, more as needed
2 to 3 pounds zucchini, washed and thinly sliced (i use the side of my grater)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic (i don't measure. i just use lots)
5 eggs
1/4 cup cream or milk
4 medium tomatoes, preferably very ripe, cored and roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon sugar (i use brown sugar or sucanut)

Directions:
1. Put half the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, a large pinch of salt and some pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini wilts and gives up its liquid; add 1 tablespoon garlic. Continue to cook until zucchini browns slightly. (mine never really browns, but it gets pretty wilty.)

2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees and set a kettle of water to boil. Beat together the eggs, cream and more salt and pepper. When zucchini is done, let it cool slightly, then scoop slices into egg mixture, using a slotted spoon. Stir. LIghtly grease an 8 by 4 inch nonstick loaf pan in a baking dish and put in oven; add water to come as far up sides of loaf pan as is practical. Bake until flan is set, but still slightly jiggly in middle, about 30 minutes.

3. While flan cooks, make tomato coulis: Put remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add tomatoes, remaining garlic, salt and pepper, Basil and sugar. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer about 15 minutes.

4. When flan is done, cool it on a rack for a few minutes. Invert over a plate and unmold. (I don't bother. I just scoop it out for everyone.) Cool until warm, then slice and serve with tomato coulis.

The recipe says "8 servings as a first course or light lunch" but my husband and I will pretty easily split this between us as our entire dinner.

12 comments:

  1. the newspaper that i got the recipe from is so covered with stains that i couldn't really get a picture from there. i'll have to snap one next time i make this. (last year i had zucchini coming out my ears. this year i have three plants but no zucchinis. go figure.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe I'll try making it and see what happens. You can tell me if it looks like it's supposed to. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. alright dave. i just made this recipe again and took several pics for you. (it's hard taking pictures of food. it all ends up looking like a blob.)

    i'm sure Saveur could have made it look fancier and yummier, but hey, at least i gave it a go, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  4. i've never really looked through their website, but their magazine is fantastic. they cover a HUGE variety of food and drink but they're also great at covering the whole story (and not just health factors or specific types of diets like some other food magazines).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mmmm...it looks yummy! Now I'm all hungry! I'll definitely have to try making it...I should have a dinner party sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  6. yummy... this sounds very yummy... i'll try that next days... thx alot Meg!

    ReplyDelete
  7. you're welcome.

    i just made it for dinner last night. i used one yellow tomato that i got from the garden club at the kids' school, one red tomato from my back yard garden, and one zebra striped green tomato from the back yard garden. it made for a very pretty coulis.

    this is a great way to use up those zucchini that go from being one inch long to being a foot and a half long during the time it takes you to blink once.

    ReplyDelete
  8. adding the old image here so i can stick a new one above.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't have enough zucchini to make the flan part. (I bought a couple at the store, but I'm saving them for ratatouille. I didn't plant zucchini this year and I've regretted it.) but i have tomatoes turning ripe at a suddenly alarming rate, which is the perfect time to make the coulis. so i'm going to prepare and serve the coulis over a bed of whole wheat cous cous for dinner tonight (along with some marinated chicken for nathan - who we're trying to bulk up a bit with proteins - and naomi. anna is so-so about eating meat. i also picked some chard from the yard as a side.

    ReplyDelete

Leave me a note!