Super Kitchen Machine (Thermomix)

Don’t try this unless you are prepared to receive job offers from professional kitchens and proposals of marriage  — all who taste it will fall in love. Guaranteed.

I have a preference for those recipes that make full use of the Thermomix’s multiple abilities. I have developed this flan recipe for like-minded Bimby fans who seek out opportunities to play with the machine and maximize its potential. See how many times you can use your Thermomix while preparing this Onion Flan recipe AND the ingredients that comprise it!

Onion Flan for Thermomix Fans
This is a three stage recipe: pastry, filling, and topping. Three sets of ingredients and three methods. It is helpful to read through the entire recipe before beginning. Quantities shown are for one extra large flan and (for two medium sized flans)

Pastry Ingredients
100 g. wheat kernels (150 g.) (see note #1 below)
100 g. white flour (150 g.)
50 g. grated cheddar (75 g.) (I prefer aged cheddar)
70 g. chilled unsalted butter in small pieces (100 g.) (make your own!)
¼ tsp. salt (¼ tsp)
50 g. cold water (50 g. – 75 g.)

Pastry Method
- Grind/Mill wheat kernels for 30 seconds on speed 8 to make full wheat flour.
- Add white flour, chilled butter, salt, cheese to bowl with fresh-milled flour.
- Process 10 seconds on speed 6 while adding cold water through hole in lid.
- Knead for 20 seconds on interval speed to form dough.
- Turn out, form into ball, cover in plastic wrap and set in fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes.
- Set oven to pre-heat at 195°C or 395° F

Filling ingredients
400 g. Odette’s Onions (600 g.) (make your own)
200 g. cream cheese/yogurt cheese (300 g. ) (make your own)
3 eggs (4 eggs)
50 g. milk or cream (75 g.)
10 g. grated parmesan cheese (15 g.)
sprinkle of fresh ground pepper
sprinkle of caraway seeds (see note #2 below)

Filling Method
- Lightly grease a flan pan (or two)
- Roll out dough with rolling pin (on Silicone baking mat if you have one)
- Place pastry dough in pan and prick with a fork
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes only (!)
- Remove pastry crust from oven and spread with onions
- Reduce oven temperature to 190° C or 375° F
- Process cream cheese, eggs, milk/cream, parmesan cheese for 6 seconds on speed 5 to blend
- Pour filling from Thermomix bowl over the onion base
- Sprinkle with pepper and caraway seeds

Topping Ingredients
50 g. swiss gruyere, cubed (75 g.)
100 g. cheddar, cubed (150 g.) (I prefer white, aged)
20 g. grated or shaved parmesan (30 g.)
handful Italian olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

Topping Method
- Grate cheeses for 5 seconds on speed 5
- Distribute cheese over top of flan(s)
- Sprinkle olives over top
- Bake at 190° C or 375° F for approximately 30-45 minutes.

Notes:
1. Instead of milling your own flour, you can simply begin with an equal amount of regular flour. I prefer to mill a small amount from scratch because it is SO easy to do so with Thermomix and it enhances the flavour and aroma of this crust SO much! (My preference is a blend of freshly milled flour combined with regular flour, but you can do as you wish. )

2. If you are fond of caraway seeds, add a heavy sprinkle. If you don’t like caraway seeds, simply omit.