This is a favorite around here. If it seems to use a lot of oil, well, it does. But that is part of the appeal to this dish, so use a nice Extra Virgin olive oil here. The broccoli gets sweet and parts are a little crisp, parts are a little chewy (in a good way) and all of it is tender. The trick is taking you time with this.

“Sformato” sounds more elegant than “Flan of Broccoli”, but I think more people get the idea with the latter name. I know, sounds funky, but vegetable custards have a long tradition. Think of quiche, or frittatas. Pretty much the same thing, just bigger and has a crust. These are a bit more elegant, and work well in a fancy menu as well as every day cuisine. They are easy to add things to, play well with other items on a plate. For instance, I can see laying down a bed of the Carrot Sauce (Using thyme or sage instead of curry.), then putting the flan on top of that, and then drizzling the plate with a balsamic vinegar reduction syrup. Bold colors on the plate and big flavors in the mouth.

Okay, so it might sound weird, but it tastes good. This was one of those “I wonder what would happen if…” dishes I do when I already have a couple other vegetables going to the table. I was tired of the way I had been doing broccoli, and I had stuff heading to the grill already, so I thought, “Why not?”.  This works best if you have broccoli that has longer stemmed florets with stems ¼ to ½ inch thick. You need a barbecue with closely spaced grill bars or one of the accessories for grills that allows you cook smaller items so they do not fall through the grating.

Quick and easy, this dish is quite flexible. Just add whatever herbs you want, change the liquid around, add chili flakes or not, you could even add a little grated Parmesan to the pan at the end if you wish. Make it your own!