My latest recipe for Deep Dish Cheese & Tomato Flan was made for a summer’s evening Sunday Tea Tray supper.
A Delicious Deep Dish Flan for Summer Picnics and Celebration Buffets
My latest recipe for Deep Dish Cheese & Tomato Flan was made for a summer’s evening Sunday Tea Tray supper.
Made in an oblong deep dish, it yields lots of cheesy egg custard filling, with sweet seasonal tomatoes, and not too much pastry.
You could also use a deep, round pie dish too – it’s just that I had an oblong pyrex dish to hand, and I actually prefer square pieces of flan too!
I’m very keen on a good old-fashioned English flan. Why not a quiche you may ask? Having lived in France for many years, I see a quiche as being just eggs with lardons.
And, quelle horreur! There is NO cheese in a traditonal quiche Lorraine either. It’s basically a savoury custard of eggs, creme fraiche (or cream), bacon (lardons) with a touch of nutmeg.
A flan however, can be any ingredients you wish to add to a savoury egg custard which is then baked in a pastry case.
I have several flan recipes on Lavender & Lovage, from savoury egg & bacon flan to an old school favourite for cornflake tart. (Yes! A tart can also be a flan too!)
Back to today’s recipe for Deep Dish Cheese & Tomato Flan – I made this with local free-range eggs, milk, extra mature Cheddar cheese, and some fabulous heirloom tomatoes.
I did add half a red onion too, which I found at the back of the fridge; but, it’s really about the cheese and tomatoes.
I used a pack of frozen ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, which is unusual for me, as I usually always make my own shortcrust pastry.
But time was short as I’d been baking all day, so it was a helpful way to cut a corner. I used a 320g sheet of pastry, which fitted perfectly into the 9″ x 4″ dish I had. (about 3″ deep)
You can of course make your own shortcrust pastry, a 12ozs (340g) batch will work fine, as in 8ozs (225g) flour to 4ozs (115g) fat.
I hope you enjoy this simple and rustic recipe if you make it, you can add more onion or even some snipped spring onions to the recipe if you wish.
Shortcrust Pastry Recipe and Culinary Notes
- Perfect with salad and baked potatoes, as well as for lunch boxes and picnics.
- Use any strong hard cheese you have to hand.
- Use different colour tomatoes if you can source them.
- Add more onion or even some snipped spring onions to the recipe if you wish.
FOR HOMEMADE SHORTCRUST PASTRY FOLLOW THIS RECIPE:
340g SR flour (12 ozs)
160g butter (6 ozs)
cold water (to mix, about 30ml)
pinch of salt
Mix flour and salt in basin, rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Using a knife to cut and stir, mix with cold water to form a stiff dough. Do not over mix, light of hand is best.
Allow pastry dough to chill and “relax” for 30 minutes, in a fridge or a cool place, cover the bowl or put the pastry in some cling film.
More Flan, Tart and Quiche Recipes
- Old-Fashioned Tomato Pie
- Gluten Free Crustless Quiche Lorraine
- Wild Garlic and Blue Wensleydale Tart
Sweet Tarts and Pies
Recipe for Deep Dish Cheese & Tomato Flan
Deep Dish Cheese & Tomato Flan
My latest recipe for Deep Dish Cheese & Tomato Flan was made for a summer's evening Sunday Tea Tray supper.
Made in an oblong deep dish, it yields lots of cheesy egg custard filling, with sweet seasonal tomatoes, and not too much pastry.
You could also use a deep, round pie dish too - it's just that I had an oblong pyrex dish to hand, and I actually prefer square pieces of flan too!
I'm very keen on a good old-fashioned English flan. Why not a quiche you may ask? Having lived in France for many years, I see a quiche as being just eggs with lardons.
Ingredients
- 1 x 340g ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 6 medium eggs, beaten with 150mls milk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 225g extra mature Cheddar cheese, grated
- 6 tomatoes, 4 of them cut into small dice, and the 2 remaining sliced thinly for the garnish topping
Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up - this helps with baking the base of the flan. Line a deep dish flan or pie tin with baking paper.
2. Carefully ease the pastry into the lined dish, trimming off the excess pastry around the rim if needed.
3. Scatter the diced red onion ovee the pastry base, then add the diced tomatoes.
4. Season the egg and milk mixture with salt and pepper. Add three quarters of the grated cheese to the egg mixture and pour it over the onions and tomatoes.
5. Arrange the remaining sliced tomatoes over the top of the egg mixture, and the scatter the rest of the grated cheese over the top.
6. Place the flan dish on the baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown, and the filling is set but still a bit wobbly.
7. Remove the flan from the oven and allow to come to room temperature, before easing it out of the dish and serving in squares.
Notes
Perfect with salad and baked potatoes, as well as for lunch boxes and picnics.
Use any strong hard cheese you have to hand.
Use different colour tomatoes if you can source them.
Add more onion or even some snipped spring onions to the recipe if you wish.
FOR HOMEMADE SHORTCRUST PASTRY FOLLOW THIS RECIPE:
340g SR flour (12 ozs)
160g butter (6 ozs)
cold water (to mix, about 30ml)
pinch of salt
Mix flour and salt in basin, rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Using a knife to cut and stir, mix with cold water to form a stiff dough. Do not over mix, light of hand is best.
Allow pastry dough to chill and "relax" for 30 minutes, in a fridge or a cool place, cover the bowl or put the pastry in some cling film.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 182Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 126mgSodium 254mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 1gSugar 4gProtein 10g
Linda J Derting says
How much milk to add? It was omitted in the recipe.
Karen Burns-Booth says
No it’s not, it is added after the egg, 150mls 🙂