Fully herbed individual courgette flans with sweet pepper sauce

A nice idea for a light first dish or as a dish for your Summer buffet! Fresh seasonal herbs give their aroma and taste to these cute flans which go perfectly well with the lightly spiced raw pepper sauce

Recipe of Thalia Tsichlaki,

in "BHMagazino" of "TO BHMA" newspaper (2009)

Ingredients (for 4 people):
4 whole eggs
4 egg whites
175ml of full fat milk
175ml of cream (35% fat)
1 small courgette, grated
75 gr. of Greek Graviera cheese, grated
2½ tbsp of finely chopped mixed fresh herbs (chives, flat-leaf parsley, dill, fennel fronds or tarragon)
salt
pepper
some butter, melted (for brushing)

For the sauce:
2 red bell peppers, seedless and cut into big pieces
200ml of vegetable stock
1 clove of garlic, mashed
1 pinch of granulated sugar
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp of olive oil
salt
pepper

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C.

In a large bowl beat the eggs and the extra egg whites with the milk and the cream until they are well blended. Add the courgette, the cheese and the herbs and stir well.

Brush four ramekins of 200ml with some butter and equally fill with the herb mixture. Place the ramekins in a shallow pan with water that reaches up to ¾ of their sides ("bain marie" method).

Put in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the mixture thickens.

In the meantime, put in a blender the peppers along with the vegetable stock, the garlic, the sugar, the vinegar and the Worcester sauce and whiz until they are completely mashed. Then add salt and pepper and the olive oil and whiz again.

Take the flans out of the ramekins onto plates and serve pouring over with the raw pepper sauce.