recipes > veggie delight > asparagus, goat cheese & beetroot flan
asparagus, goat cheese & beetroot flan
I love making this flan again and again for a simple reason: the drama of colour that combines the whiteness of cheese with the greenness of asparagus & the redness of beets is spectacular.
veggie delight (category)
02 (fuss level)
instructions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and in the large saucepan boil some water to cook the asparagus for 3 minutes. Rinse under cold water and set aside.
2. With a little butter grease the roasting tin.
3. Roll out the puff pastry and cut rectangles/squares for each flan, ensuring that they both fit into the roasting tin. Place in the roasting tin and with a knife mark a border about a centimetre from the edge of the pastry, which marks the area for placing the filling.
4. Use 2 teaspoons of the pesto sauce to spread on each of the flan.
5. Finely slice one of the beetroots (leave the second one intact for the time being). Disregard the top and bottom end and arrange the slices on each of the flan.
6. Cut the asparagus spears to the length that fits the size of the flan (preserve the end of the cut end of the asparagus - you will use it for the salad). Arrange on top of the beetroot.
7. Slice the goat cheese and place the slices on top of the asparagus. Place the flans in the oven for 15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, chop the ends of the asparagus that you have set aside and place them in the mixing bowl. Finely dice the second beetroot and 3 artichoke hearts. Add both to the chopped asparagus. Throw in a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds.
9. Break off the largest leaves from the gem lettuce. Shred the rest into fine ribbons and add to the mixing bowl.
10. In a mug combine 2 teaspoon of pesto sauce, 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar and a half teaspoon of sugar. Pour into the mixing bowl and dress the salad.
To serve - Arrange large gem lettuce leaves per plate and gently spoon the salad into them. Take the flan from the oven and position in the middle of the plate.
