My mother’s cousin, Paola, gave me her Aunt Helia’s recipe book. The recipes contained within are all from the 1950s and 1960s.
Stews and even roasts abounded, then vegetable pies and flans. Flans can be made in convenient, single portions or in spectacular pudding molds.
A convenient preparation for Sunday lunches or dinners with friends.
Aunt Helia’s Spinach Flan
- Preparation time: 60 minutes
- For 4 single-portion puddings
- Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe
- Ingredients
- 500 g of fresh spinach
- 1 egg
- 50 g grated parmesan
- Butter to taste
- Breadcrumbs to taste
- For the Béchamel:
- 30 g of butter
- 30 g of all-purpose flour
- 250 ml of milk
- Nutmeg to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the parmesan sauce:
- 50 g of grated parmesan
- 50 ml of 35% fat milk cream
- 50 ml of milk
- Instructions
- Wash the spinach well and boil them in a little water. Drain them and squeeze well. Chop them finely with a knife.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
- Prepare the béchamel. Details on how to do it are here.
- Once the béchamel is lukewarm, add the egg, parmesan, and spinach. Mix well.
- Butter the single-portion molds well, and flour them with breadcrumbs.
- Pour the spinach mixture into the molds.
- Bake in the oven for approximately thirty minutes.
- Prepare the sauce. Place the milk and double cream in a pan, then bring to a boil. Add the grated parmesan. Mix with a whisk.
- Serve the puddings with the parmesan sauce and (if you have them) some truffle flakes.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- To boil the spinach well: Bring the water to a gentle boil, pour in the vegetables, and drain as soon as the water returns to the boil. There must not be too much water in the pot.
- The molds should be generously buttered.
- The parmesan cream must have a consistency similar to custard
Helia with Granny Irene
