Here are some cute savory flans really easy to make. They’re a perfect side dish for fish or meat and you can find thousands of variations. This recipe features Parmesan, goat cheese and spinach. Once you’ve mastered them you can let your imagination fly and try broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, eggplants or any vegetable you like with all sorts of cheeses. It’s a great recipe, very useful whenever you don’t have much in the fridge

Preparation time: 20 minutes – Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 servings)

1 lb (450 g) of fresh spinach leaves
2 1/2 oz (75 g) of goat cheese
1 1/2 oz (45 g) of grated Parmesan
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 teaspoons of butter
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Wash and dry spinach leaves thoroughly. Pinch off the stems.

2/ Melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add spinach leaves and stir regularly until they’re soft.

3/ Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C/ Th 6).

4/ Dice goat cheese.

5/ Break eggs in a large bowl and whisk them with a fork. Add heavy cream, Parmesan, goat cheese and spinach. Add salt and pepper and whisk again.

6/ Grease individual ramekins with butter and pour flan mixture into them.

7/ Bake in oven for 20 minutes and serve right away.

This recipe was inspired by a mashed potatoes soufflé recipe from French magazine ‘Elle à table’. It’s called soufflé because of the puffy texture the purée gets when being baked in oven. Good news is it doesn’t involve any beaten egg white! It’s such an easy recipe, I invite you to try it with any mashed veggies you like.

Preparation time: 10 minutes – Cooking time: 30 minutes – Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

1.1 lbs (500 g) of broccoli
4 big potatoes
1 tablespoon of creme fraiche
1 oz (30 g) of butter
1 pinch of nutmeg
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel, rinse and dry potatoes.

2/ Rinse and dry broccoli.

3/ If you have a a pressure cooker, steam potatoes in it for 10 minutes after water starts boiling. Then, steam broccoli for 5 minutes. If you don’t, get water to a boil in two separate saucepans. Boil potatoes for 30 minutes and broccoli for 10 minutes. In all cases, add some salt.

4/ Preheat oven to 450° F (230° C/Th 8).

5/ Mash potoatoes and broccoli in a food processor. Add creme fraiche, half of the butter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

6/ Grease 4 ramekins with butter or margarine.

7/ Pour broccoli purée into the ramekins. Top with a piece of butter.

8/ Fill half of an ovenproof dish with boiling (or very hot water) and put ramekin on it. Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve right away.

Forget your instant mashed potatoes mix… Making authentic mashed potatoes is fast, easy AND tasty! Some like their mashed potatoes with a more liquid texture, don’t hesitate to add milk if they don’t look smooth enough for you.

Preparation time: 10 mn  Cooking time: 30 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2.2 lbs (1kg) of potatoes
1/2 cup (120ml) of milk
3 tablespoons of creme fraiche
2 tablespoons of butter
1 pinch of  nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Cut potatoes into 2 or 4 pieces depending on their size (bigger pieces will need more time to be done).

2/ Boil potatoes into salted water for 30 minutes (they’ll be easier to mash if overcooked). Let them chill.

3/ Peel and mash potatoes (you can use a a food mill or potato ricer, if you don’t have any use a potato masher or heavy fork.)

4/ Pour mashed potatoes into a pan heated over low heat. Add milk, butter, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir well.

5/ That’s it, ready to serve! Easy, right?

I love making brunch on week-ends. You get out of bed too late to have breakfast and still be hungry at noon. Or you get up at noon, it’s too late to call it breakfast but you’re still not ready to have lunch . This soft cooked egg and bacon salad is a perfect brunch recipe but, of course you can have it with any other meal! I usually skip mustard in the seasoning sauce when I make it in the morning, it’s less aggressive when you just woke up!

Preparation time: 10 mn  Cooking time: 10 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 eggs
4 slices of bread
3 1/2 oz (100 g) of bacon
3 1/2 oz (100 g) of corn salad (you can also use arugula if you prefer)
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard (Click here to buy online)
1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper

Instructions

1/ Preheat oven to 410° F (210° C / Th 7).

2/ Get water to a boil in a saucepan.

3/ Brush bread slices with olive oil (3 tablespoons) and bake in oven for 5 minutes on each side.

4/ When water is boiling, add eggs carefully. (I usually put the egg in a tablespoon, it’s much easier to get it gently to the bottom of the saucepan). Leave them in boiling water for 4 minutes. When they’re done rinse them with cold water and leave aside.

5/ Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add bacon slices. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until bacon looks crispy.

6/ When bacon is done, leave it in a plate covered with a napkin to drain its fat.

7/ Dice bread and cut bacon into pieces.

8/ Squeeze lemon in a bowl and whisk mustard, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper with it.

9/ In 4 plates, arrange corn salad, bacon and bread pieces. Serve on top lemon sauce.

10/ Carefully remove egg shells and place a soft cooked egg on top of each plate. Break it for the egg yolk to flow.

11/ Serve right away.

There are so many ingredients you can top baked potatoes with, it’s always difficult to choose! This baked potatoes recipe uses portobello mushrooms flavored with garlic and parsley. It’s really easy to make, the only thing you need to take into account being potatoes baking time. For medium sized potatoes, it should take around one hour. If your potatoes are bigger, it will take longer. If you don’t have enough time, don’t worry, you’re allowed to trick. You can boil potatoes instead of baking them, nobody has ever complained

Preparation time: 20 mn  Baking time: 1 h

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

8 medium sized potatoes
7 portobello mushrooms
4 tablespoons of parsley
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C/Th 6).

2/ Wash potatoes and dry them with a clean clothe. Pierce them using a fork (5 times should be enough; it allows steam to get out the potatoes when baking).

3/ Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil and bake them for 1 hour.

4/ Peel and chop mushrooms and garlic. (Peel mushrooms by taking off the white ’skin’ they have on top and cutting their bottom end)

5/ Pour olive oil in a frying pan and heat it over medium heat. Add garlic.

6/ Clean and chop parsley.

7/ Pour mushrooms and parsley in the frying pan. Cook until mushrooms have a nice brownish color. Add salt and pepper.

8/ When potatoes are tender, cut a line in the middle. Add a piece of butter, a pinch of salt  and the mix of parsley and garlic mushrooms.

9/ Serve them right away.

Perfect with a grilled meat or a lemon stuffed chicken.