Asparagus and red peppers flan

I bought Michel Roux's new book, Pastry, this is one of the recipes in it. I enjoyed making the pastry,pate brise, in this case, is easy, and rewarding.It's a perfect vegetarian maind dish. The peppers in the recipe must be roasted and then cooked in what it's called a "confit", bt if you feel lazy, I guess you can avoid this by opening a jar of roasted peppers. And if you are feeling even more lazy, you can just buy a packet of ready made shortcrust pastry...

For the Pate brise (shortcrust pastry)

250g plain flour

150g softened butter

1tsp salt

pinch of caster sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp cold milk

Mix all the ingredients except the milk, when everything is combined, add the milk and mix, wrap in cling film, and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

Semi-confit peppersFirst, you have to roast the peppers, to do so, jut pop them in the oven, at 180 degees for half hour, or until they feelsoft, put them in a pastic bag, close tightly and leave to rest for 1/2 hour. Peel them off, and get rid of the seeds, and pat them dry with kitchen paper, now place them in a medium saucepan, cover them with olive oil, add 2 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 1 rosemary sprig, one garlic clove, and a handful of crushed peppercorns. Cook gently for 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the flan:

340g pate brise

2 packets asparagus

salt and pepper

5 semi-confit peppers

1 egg

2 egg yolks

200ml double cream

pinch of nutmeg

8 dill sprigs for decoration

Method:
Roll out the pastry and cover an oblong tart tin, or you can use a round one as well, chill for 20 minutes. Preheat ovento 190 degrees. Prick the base of the pastry, cover with parchment paper and fill with baking beans, or any beans, or rice,this will stop the pastry from rising and bake for 20 minutes, remove the beans and bake for a further 10 minutes. Set aside hile you prepare the filling.

Cook the asparagus in boiling salted water, until they are cooked, about 4 to 5 minutes.Drain and dry. Trim the asparagus to the width of the tin. Dice the peppers, pat them dry again, and scater them in an even layer in the pastry case.

Mix the whole egg, yolks, and cream together and season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg. Pour three quarters of the mixtureover the peppers, lay the asparagus over the peppers, andcarefully spoon the remaining egg mixture over the asparagus. Bakefor 30 minutes. Leave to rest for 2o minutes before unmoulding. Garnish with the dill and serve warm.