Recipe Details
. Difficulty: Medium
. Cheese: Taleggio PDO
. Servings per: 4 people
. Cooking: 40 min
Intolerances
Without crustaceans
Ingredients
for the flan
200 g Taleggio PDO
100 ml cream
30 g butter
30 g flour
100 g egg white
200 g ricotta
salt
for the asparagus
8 asparagus
8 thin slices bacon or smoked pancetta
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
to garnish
scalded tomato slivers
extra virgin olive oil flavoured with basilPreparation
for the flan
Heat the cream in a saucepan, without bringing it to the boil, and add the Taleggio PDO cut into pieces, stirring vigorously to melt.
In another saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour all together, stir and cook for a few seconds until a pale roux has formed. Then add the milk with the Taleggio PDO, a little at a time, on a medium heat, mixing with a wooden spoon or a whisk to prevent lumps forming. As soon as it comes to the boil, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for a few minutes, like an ordinary béchamel: when the sauce has thickened, switch the heat off, season with salt to taste and leave to cool down, stirring from time to time to prevent lumps forming.
Add the ricotta and the lightly beaten egg whites and mix them with the rest of the ingredients. Grease and flour 4 individual moulds, fill ¾ with the mixture and bake in a bain-marie at 120°C for 40 minutes. Take out of the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes and then turn out directly onto the serving dish.
In the meantime, peel and wash the asparagus and steam-cook; wrap them in a slice of bacon and sauté in a frying pan with a little oil for 1 minute. Arrange them as a garnish beside the flan, decorate with slivers of scalded skinned tomato and a few drops of extra virgin olive oil flavoured with basil and serve.
by Corrado Carpi – “La Bigoncia” restaurant – Genoa