This Italian spinach flan is soft and savoury, with ricotta for a creamy texture and Parmesan for extra flavour. A thin tomato sauce keeps it fresh. Serve the flans lukewarm as a starter.
Flan di spinaci is a baked vegetable dish in which spinach takes centre stage. Ricotta makes the mixture mild and soft; Parmesan adds a salty, savoury note, and a little nutmeg goes well with both. The flans should be firm enough to turn out of their moulds, but not dry or rubbery. That’s why you bake them until the centre has just set, then take them out of the oven to finish cooking briefly.
Fresh spinach wilts down a lot, so 500 grams may seem like a large amount before you start. Once wilted, it’s essential to drain it well: excess moisture makes the mixture thin and can leave the flans watery. Let the spinach cool first, then squeeze out as much moisture as you can with your hands. Chop the leaves finely so they’re evenly distributed through the ricotta and eggs. The same method works with frozen spinach; use about 300 grams of thawed spinach and squeeze it out thoroughly.
A bain-marie — placing the moulds in an oven dish with hot water — ensures gentle, even cooking. The water doesn’t need to boil; it softens the oven’s direct heat. Use small, ovenproof ramekins and place them in an oven dish before pouring in the water, so you don’t have to move them with hot water around them. The flans are ready when the edges are firm and the centre still wobbles very slightly. Leave them to stand for a few minutes before turning them out.
The tomato sauce is deliberately thin and simple: passata with olive oil and salt makes a fresh, slightly tart counterpart to the creamy flan. Just heat the sauce through; reducing it for too long makes it heavier and takes away the contrast. In summer, you can use smooth passata made from ripe tomatoes; outside tomato season, bottled passata is a practical choice. It’s best not to use a thick pasta sauce with lots of herbs, as it will overpower the mild spinach.
You can bake the flans in advance and keep them covered in the fridge. Reheat them gently in a low-temperature oven, or serve them at room temperature; avoid heating them for too long, as they’ll become firmer. Warm the tomato sauce separately and spoon it onto the plates just before serving. One flan per person is enough for a starter. A simple salad with bitter leaves or some bread on the side makes it a light meal.
Preheat the oven to 170 °C. Grease 4 ramekins with butter and place them in a deep oven dish.
Wilt the spinach in a large pan over medium heat, adding a handful at a time if needed. Leave to cool, then squeeze the spinach very well. Chop finely.
In a bowl, whisk the ricotta until smooth with the eggs. Stir in the Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and a few twists of black pepper. Fold in the chopped spinach until evenly combined.
Divide the mixture among the ramekins and smooth the tops. Pour hot water into the oven dish until it comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the edges are firm and the centre still wobbles just a little. Carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath and leave them to stand for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the passata with the olive oil and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Warm gently without reducing the sauce until thick.
Carefully loosen the flans with a thin knife and turn them out onto plates, or serve them in the ramekins. Spoon the warm, thin tomato sauce around them and serve lukewarm.
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