French Fridays with Dorie, Week 8: Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans

For week eight of the French Fridays with Dorie adventure, I decided to give the savory flan a try.  The Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans, from Around My French Table, were easy to prepare.  The recipe begins with whisking together pumpkin, eggs, and heavy cream and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Before baking in a water bath, the flans were topped with Gorgonzola (or goat cheese, yum!) and toasted walnuts.  Drizzle with a little honey and you have an interesting mixture of flavors...bold cheese with the mildly sweet pumpkin and honey.  Interesting, indeed.

Translation:  Citrouille Gorgonzola Flan

Listen to the pronunciation.

Oh why I love pumpkin...

• Versatile ingredient!  Shines so well in sweet and savory dishes and could make an appearance at any meal.   Nutrition powerhouse!  Great source of fiber, vitamin A, potassium and the antioxidant, beta-carotene.  There are 600 or so carotenoids in our foods.  Beta-carotene, lycopene, and lutein are probably the most widely recognized.  Foods brightly colored in reds, greens, deep-yellows and orange will provide  you with the best sources of carotenoids.    
•  The seeds!  Pepitas!  Roast the seeds with a little olive oil, season with salt & pepper and you have a  great fiber, iron and protein-rich snack. 
• The color!  Really loving orange at the moment.
• The ingredient in my all-time favorite cookie...Pumpkin Cookies.  Follow the link to this fantastic family recipe.

Here are some more interesting pumpkin recipes:

Pumpkin Flan with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds from Epicurious

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes from Epicurious

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Puree from Fine Cooking

Roasted Pumpkin-Apple Soup from Eating Well

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake from Eating Well

Pumpkin Honey Beer Quick Bread from Cooking Light

Pumpkin Banana Smoothie from Cooking Light

Next week:  The Caramel Topped Semolina Cake