Artichoke Flan

For those of us who love to cook, we find inspiration in books, from television, but mostly from eating — especially on the road. Traveling is fulfilling in so many ways but for me a great joy and benefit is eating in restaurants. From simplistic to fancy I love them all — with a tilt toward simplistic.

One of my favorite restaurant cities in the world is Rome. Being the capital city, Rome brings together culinary treasures and trends from all 20 Italian regions. Despite the fact that there are hundreds of restaurants in the city, each year we find a dish on menus throughout the city center that wasn’t found in previous years. You’ll see it once and then again, and again until curiosity breaks you down and you order it. This is the story of sformato di carciofi — artichoke flan.

After spotting it on the second menu in as many days I knew what I had to do. It was delicious. I ordered again at two other restaurants in the same week and the results were consistent — it was a hit. All versions had their own subtle twists but the savory flan at its core was very similar.

I made a few notes both mentally and digitally knowing that I would want to recreate this dish at home. Once home I poured through numerous Italian cookbooks without a trace of artichoke flan. So, it was on to the kitchen to experiment with creating a savory flan that’s ideal as a starter. Luckily, I had about eighty-percent success on my first go and then fine tuned it in subsequent attempts. It’s now a trusted dish in my menu planning.

• 15 ounces of artichoke hearts
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 ricotta
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
• 1/2 once dried porcini (optional — about four pieces)
• 1/2 once lemon juice
• teaspoon finely chopped thyme
• salt and pepper

(Feel free to use fresh, raw artichokes. Seeing that they are very seasonal in the US and the quality is spotty I most often use a quality jarred/canned version from Italy.)

If using the dried porcini, rehydrate in 3/4 cup hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and give them a rough chop. Save the steeping liquid.

If using canned or jarred artichoke hearts drain them, rinse them well, and then dry them. Place the hearts in a small pot in a single layer and pour over a couple tablespoons of olive oil and the chopped thyme. Cook on low for 20 to 30 minutes partly covered until soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender and blitz until very smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to catch the small artichoke fibers. This step will take a few minutes but it’s worth it as it delivers an ultra-smooth flan.

Pour the mixture into individual ramekins or into a well buttered muffin tin. Bake on a baking sheet in the center of a 350F oven for twenty minutes. Allow the flans to set for a few minutes before serving.

If you like you can make a simple parmesan cream sauce to serve alongside your flans. One cup of half and half, one tablespoon corn starch, one-quarter cup grated parmesan or pecorino, salt and pepper with a pinch of nutmeg heated in heavy pot until it thickens. Optionally, add a couple tablespoons of the porcini liquid.

Serve with a charming ancient white wine from Campania or your favorite bubbly.