Guys Love Cooking weekend recipe: Pumpkin Flan

In this week's Guys Love Cooking recipe, the guys get ready for winter, one they hope will be cold enough to inspire warm alcoholic beverages and earthy winter delights after a day of wandering around frozen canals. Sinterklass has finally arrived. The holiday season has begun. Looking at the weather forecast the cold is about to hit us any day now. This is the time of mulled wine, sitting by the fireplace and Christmas markets. The idea for this year is to go visit Valkenburg, with one of the most spectacular underground Christmas markets. We love this time of year, the run up to Christmas is always a very busy time, dinners and events will soon start taking place to celebrate with friends and colleagues. It will all be over soon, however the celebrations give you the idea you will be separated for a long time. Despite living in Amsterdam for three, we have not been not lucky enough to see any of the canals frozen over, so we are hoping to witness that in the next few months. We are planning a couple of Christmas inspired recipes, so watch the space in the next few weeks. Considering we are still in November we would like to use pumpkin just a little longer. That’s the main ingredient of this weekend’s recipe. I honestly think this is one of our best creations. It tastes wonderful. It is pumpkin flan, with pine nuts on top to add texture to the dish. You will need some parmesan cheese, and that's pretty much it. This is ideal as a starter

Pumpkin Flan

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

Pumpkin: 350g (12 oz)
Eggs: 2
Double cream: 100g (1/2 cup)
Parmesan: 25g (1 oz)
Pine nuts: 15g (1/2 oz)
Parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Thyme to taste (optional)
Salt & pepper

Method

Dice the pumpkin and boil it in lightly salted water for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with a whisk, then fold in the cream and Parmesan. Add thyme, if you are using it. Whisk the pumpkin with a tablespoon of cooking water, two tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of parsley. Once pureed, mix the pumpkin with the eggs to obtain a sort-of homogeneous cream. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper. Butter four individual ceramic ramekin, and pour in the mixture, filling them three quarters of the way. Bake at 180 (356 F) degrees for about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the top with pine nuts and cook for about 10 more. Eat hot!