Debbie Quinn has a lifelong love of food and cooking, nurtured in her parents’ restaurants and in her own family’s kitchen. Every fortnight she shares her passion and expertise with our readers, bringing her best recipes, tips and tricks to the table.
Vegetable ricotta and avocado flan
This is lovely to have for dinner or lunch with a nice salad. Or just have it on its own. It also heats up beautifully in the microwave. The addition of the avocado just makes it a little bit different to any other flan.
Ingredients
Pastry
200g plain flour
100g soft butter
Juice ½ lemon
¼ cup water
Cut the butter into the flour with a knife and the rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips to resemble breadcrumbs (takes about four to five minutes). Mix lemon juice and water together, gradually adding to the flour to form a ball. (You may not need all the liquid mixture, just make sure it forms a ball.)
Wrap the dough in clear wrap and refrigerate for one hour before using.
Ricotta filling
500g ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Vegetable filling
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
2 zucchini, grated
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
¼ cup fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
¼ cup water
1 tsp Massel chicken stock
Pinch sea salt and good ground of pepper
Toppings
2 avocados sliced
2 cups grated cheese
Method
Whisk ricotta cheese with eggs, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Melt the butter on low heat in a non-stick pan and sauté the onion, capsicum and zucchini for about 10 mins.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, ¼ cup water and 1 tsp Massel chicken stock, sprinkle of salt and pepper, sauté for around 10 mins until the vegetables and sauce thicken, then set aside to cool.
To assemble: Flour a clean surface, roll out the pastry and line a greased 22cm round ceramic dish with the pastry overlapping the edges and trim off any excess pastry.
* Note: If the pastry is too hard, let it sit for about 10 mins, pressing it down gently with your floured rolling pin to loosen it up.
Place the ricotta mixture evenly on the bottom of the pastry followed by the cooled tomato mixture, then top with the sliced avocado and the grated cheese.
Bake at 180ºC for about 30 mins. This is lovely served hot or at room temperature.
Deb’s tips
Once you have rolled your pastry out large enough to fit the pie dish, use your rolling pin to roll up the pastry then start from the right side of your dish and roll the pastry back over the pie dish. Push it into the edges gently. Make sure it fits all around the sides and trim the edges, allowing a bit extra because the pastry will shrink.
Try not to leave the pastry more than an hour in the fridge — it will end up being quite firm. Leave it out of the fridge for a while to let it soften a bit. Once you start moving it around with your rolling pin it will soften and roll out nicely for you. (Don’t give up.)
If you slice the avocados at the start of your prep, just sprinkle them with a little lemon juice to stop them going brown. Once avocados are sliced the oxygen in the air turns them brown and the acid from the lemon juice stops that from happening, and also adds to the flavour.