Red Pepper Flans

Red Pepper Flans
Delicate and delicious, this impressive starter is worth the effort - it's visually delightful and flavourful. It's one of my favourite dinner parties favourite.

Ingredients
30 g parmesan. in one or two chunks
4 large red peppers (bell or Romano), quartered, seeds and stem discarded
120 g banana shallots, peeled and quartered
extra virgin olive oil)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
65 g double cream

Method
1. Grate the parmesan Speed 10/10 sec until fine. Tip out and set aside.
2. For the red pepper purée: Chop shallots and 3½ of the red peppers with 20 g olive oil 3 seconds/Speed 5, then cook 10 minutes/Varoma Temperature/Speed Spoon.
3. Purée 30 seconds/Speed 10 then measure out 325 ml in a jug. Set aside the rest for another use – it makes a good pasta sauce when seasoned well.
4. For the filling: Return the 325 ml red pepper purée to the TM bowl. Add seasoning, eggs, egg yolk and the reserved parmesan. Mix well at Speed 3 for a few seconds.
5. Add the double cream and gently fold in with blades going at Speed 3 for a few seconds – don't overdo the mixing otherwise the cream will split! Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Transfer the mix to a jug ready to fill the dariole moulds later.
7. To assemble, steam and serve: Generously butter 6 to 8 dariole moulds (100 ml size) . Spoon or pour the pepper mixture in, cover the dariols with aluminium foil and steam 15 minutes/Varoma Temperature/Speed Spoon or until the flans are set. Sprinkle with oil and grated parmesan to finish.

Tip:
Tip: If you prefer not to use aluminium foil, you could cover the filled dariol moulds with greaseproof paper held down by string or elastic bands. Optional for decorating the baked flans: 2 Tablespoons of Pine Nuts, toasted for a few minutes in a dry pan or in the oven, 8 small branches of Basil for decorating the baked flans, and some Thermomix pesto.