Receta Spinach and Goat Cheese Flan, pretty spiders
Small dishes are very popular here…. Both the actual dishes and the food that goes in them.
The little dishes are usually the perfect size for a first course.
The best part is they’re cheap and fun to collect.
We had these as a first course (surprise) but they would work as a small veggie side dish.
If you don’t have any cute little baking dishes, just make it in a larger dish – and double or triple as needed
Spinach and Goat Cheese Flan
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4oz (120gr) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 3oz (90gr) aged goat cheese substitute Brie or Camembert
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 2 tbs Greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- olive oil
Instructions:
Mix egg, tomato paste, yogurt, paprika and oregano.
Add spinach and mix well.
Lightly oil to small baking dishes.
Put 1/4 of the spinach in each dish, spreading evenly.
Slice cheese and cut to fit, leaving 1/4″ border.
Top with remaining spinach, spreading to edges.
Bake at 400F (200C) for 20 – 25 minutes, until lightly browned and set. I put them on a baking sheet for easier handling.
Remove and serve directly from the dishes.
Yes, I have a photo of spiders.
To be honest, pretty as they are, and knowing they were made from beads, I still couldn’t pick them up and shuddered, slightly, taking the photo.
But…..
These were at a booth at the local Christmas market, and the combination of spiders and Christmas brought back memories…..
It’s a bit early for Christmas markets, but there are so many small villages and so few weeks – someone has to be first….
It’s the pink spiders that triggered the meander down memory lane.
When I was a child, my large, extended family was very traditional about Christmas.
There were no ‘fake’ trees or blinking lights or Christmas ornaments that weren’t ‘Christmas-y’.
We strung popcorn for garlands and had big lights with reflectors on the trees.
The Christmas lights were always, always red, green, blue and gold.
No exceptions.
One year my mother’s older sister did the unthinkable.
She broke with tradition.
She decided that she wanted a pink Christmas tree.
Not the tree itself (although she could have had a pink, flocked tree) but all the decorations.
Everything, the garlands, the lights, the balls, everything had to be in shades of pink.
PINK!
My mother could have understood blue or red or gold…. but PINK? (We kids thought it was a cool idea….)
We lived in a very small town in the Midwest.
This was not an easy quest.
But everyone got in the spirit of it all and helped with the search. Whenever anything remotely Christmas-like was spotted in any shade of pink it was quickly snapped up.
By Christmas my aunt had enough to decorate her tree, including several sets of pink lights.
My cousins and I thought it was beautiful.
My aunt thought it was beautiful…..
But it wasn’t Christmas.
Christmas is red and green and blue and gold.
After Christmas she passed out all the pink decorations and lights. The next year her tree was back to ‘normal’.
What does that have to do with spiders?
There were always a lot of kids running around everyone’s house during the holidays.
My aunt had a unique way of protecting her Christmas tree from wandering hands and inquisitive minds.
She had a very large, black, very real-looking tarantula that perched on one of the front branches.
All the kids gave it a wide berth.
I was tempted to buy that pretty pink spider for my Christmas tree in memory of my aunt.
Just couldn’t do it …
If you want nutrition information for the recipe, try this site: Calorie Count
Last Updated on November 20, 2013