Smoked Salmon Flan

When I saw Nikki of Delisioucity post pictures of a smoked salmon flan on Facebook, it looked absolutely lovely. I'm not a huge fan of salmon, or even fish in general, but I just had to try it. Something that looked that good had to taste good too. And one of the better things about flans, they are dead easy to make. Plop in some pastry on a tin, put in your fillings, pour in the custardy bit, bake and ta-dah! You're done. So here we go!



What you need:
1 pack ready-rolled shortcrust pastry - 375g (or you can make your own)
150g smoked salmon
300 mL single cream
3 eggs
Handful of dill
Black pepper and salt
Cheese, as much as you like of whatever you like. I just used mature Cheddar.

What you do:

1. Line a 10-inch flan dish with the shortcrust pastry. Bake in a preheated 200C oven for 15-20 minutes. Take the pastry out and lower oven temperature to 170 C.
2. Take out of oven and scatter the salmon over the bottom of the dish.
3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs, cream, black pepper and a sprinkling of salt. Add in the dill and shhh, a little bit of cheese if you want.
4. Pour this in the dish over the salmon. Sprinkle more cheese over the top. Carefully carefully (I almost spilled it!) bring this to the oven and bake at 170 C for 35-40 minutes or until the quiche is firmed and golden brown at the top. Serve hot or cold. Yummy both ways, am sure.

Ahhh, will you just look at that. Thing of beauty, it is. I do so love pies and pastries. Chicken pie will always be my favourite, but this might be a nice change. Plus, its so much easier to make than chicken pie.

Despite this having salmon, I quite liked it. The smoked salmon was lovely, not too fishy. The filling was cheesy and delicious. Mmmmm, delicious. To be honest, I didn't really notice the dill in there. Didn't add enough, maybe? Thought it was rather a lot. Or, it could be this was from a long time ago and I've just forgotten. ^^;;

In any case, if you're looking for a simple yet rather impressive dish to serve or bring to a potluck (which is what I did), this is a pretty good contender. Preparation takes just 5 minutes and after that, you can just leave it in the oven while you go and get ready. Or you can have it for lunch/dinner, your choice. :P

Quote of the day: Only very clever man can bite pie without breaking crust.