Onion and Goat's Cheese Flan

This is such a lovely dish to take to bbq's or picnics, as it can also be eaten cold. The goat's cheese compliments the sweet taste of the onions really well. I've also used ready-mixed shortcrust pastry in the past to safe time and it was just as nice.

• Ready In: 1 hr 45 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 1 Flan

Ingredients

• 300  g plain flour
• 150  g butter, softened
• 1 -2  tablespoon water
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 750  g red onions, finely sliced
• 4 -6  shallots, finely sliced
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 150  g  goat cheese, preferably a mild variety
• 1  egg
• 3  egg yolks
• 100  ml  double cream
• 100  ml milk
• 1 -2  teaspoon salt
• 1 -2  teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 -2  teaspoon oregano, finely chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Sift the flower and 1/2 tsp of salt into a bowl.
2. Add the butter and with you fingers rub the butter into the flower until absorbed.
3. Add water to form a thick but workable dough.
4. Cover the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
5. On a lightly flowered surface roll out the pastry finely and cover a 28 cm flan dish.
6. Prick the base a couple of times with the fork and bake blind in a preheated oven (200 C, 400 F or Gas Mark 6) for about 15-20 minutes.
7. While the pastry is baking heat oil in a frying pan.
8. Fry the onions and shallots on a gentle heat until soft and starting to colour, around 15-20 minutes.
9. Add the sugar and salt to taste and mix well.
10. At this stage you can also mix in herbs if required.
11. Pace the onions into the part-paked pastry case and top with goat's cheese (if you have a hard variety you'll need to cut it into chunks otherwise you can just spoon it on) and black pepper.
12. Beat the egg, yolks, cream and milk together and pour the mixture over the onions and goat's cheese.
13. Bake in a preheated oven (200 C, 400 F or Gas Mark 6) until the filling has set, approximately 25-40 minutes.