A Beautiful Day

A cloudy start to the day saw me in the kitchen making a green bean casserole for the freezer, then some pesto with what will probably be the last decent pick of basil in the tunnel house. That is now in the fridge where it stays until I use it, or barter it. Pesto is a top-rated barter.

Then the sun came out. Hurray. After lunch Bean and I went for a lovely walk to Paradise Gully Road. It was warm enough for her to plunge into the ponds there and plough the water with her head, then run around the paddocks like a crazy thing. It’s a wonderful sight.

Here’s the recipe for yesterday’s veg flan, especially for Happy Valley. And obviously for anybody else who’s interested.

Short crust pastry
Olive oil for frying
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 courgettes chopped
3 stalks and leaves celery chopped
8 leaves and stalks silverbeet (Swiss chard) chopped
5 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs (mint, parsley, sage, thyme, marjoram)
75g feta crumbled
50g Parmesan grated
25g sunflower seeds
50g crushed walnuts
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 large tomatoes sliced
100g strong hard cheese grated
2 eggs beaten
S&P

Line a pie dish with pastry. Blind bake.
Fry onion, garlic, and all veggies and herbs for 10 minutes or so.
Add feta, Parmesan, sunflower seeds, walnuts and lemon zest and juice. Season and mix.
Spread the mixture over the pastry.
Arrange the slices of tomato on top, sprinkle with grated hard cheese and pour the beaten eggs over the top.
Bake for 40 minutes at 190C.

Enjoy!