Ingredients
| 150ml full-cream milk | |
| 150ml cream | |
| 4 brown anchovy fillets | |
| 2 bay leaves | |
| 1 whole egg plus 2 egg yolks, size 7 | |
| 80g parmesan cheese, finely grated | |
| 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature | |
| 10 white anchovy fillets | |
| 1 clove garlic | |
| 20 sage leaves | |
| 40ml red wine vinegar | |
| 40ml extra virgin olive oil | |
| 40ml neutral oil | |
| 15 Romaine leaves, washed |
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Instructions
| 1. | Put milk, cream, brown anchovies and bay leaves into a pot and bring just to a simmer, stirring regularly until the anchovies fall apart. |
| 2. | Place egg and yolks into a heatproof bowl with 30g of grated parmesan. |
| 3. | Once the cream has simmered and anchovies have fallen apart, slowly pour onto the eggs, whisking. Discard bay leaves. |
| 4. | Heat the oven to 160°C. |
| 5. | Butter the insides of two 9cm x 4cm ramekins and pour the savoury custard between them. |
| 6. | Place into a deep baking tray and pour in boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. |
| 7. | Cover the whole tray with foil and bake for 30 minutes. |
| 8. | After 30 minutes give the custard a gentle shake; the centres should only have a slight wobble. |
| 9. | Bake for 10 minutes more if the centres are still fairly liquid. |
| 10. | Remove from heat to cool for 30 minutes, then place in the fridge to set, for a minimum of two hours. |
| 11. | Line a baking tray with baking paper and sprinkle the remaining cheese into two 10cm circles. |
| 12. | Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown and blistered. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. |
| 13. | To make the anchoïade, place the white anchovies, garlic and 4 sage leaves into a mortar and pestle and pound into a coarse paste. |
| 14. | Add vinegar and half the olive oil and continue to grind into semi-coarse tapenade. |
| 15. | Add the remaining olive oil and stir through. Set aside. |
| 16. | Heat the neutral oil in a pan until hot and fry remaining sage leaves for 10-15 seconds until dark green then transfer to absorbent paper. They will crisp on cooling. |
| 17. | To serve, carefully release each flan from one edge with a fingertip. |
| 18. | Place a plate on top and invert. |
| 19. | Place parmesan crackling on top, generously spoon over anchoïade and scatter with fried sage. |
| 20. | Crack through the crackling with a spoon and spread into romaine leaves. |
Food styling, recipes & photography David Neville