Pumpkin and corn timbales

Ingredients

• ½ cup milk
• 60g grated tasty cheese
• 30g freshly grated parmesan
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup self-raising flour
• ½ cup cooked mashed pumpkin,cooled
• ½ cup creamed corn
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 200g cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 100g pancetta slices
• 30g butter
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1½ tablespoons finely chopped sage

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Grease 6 x 200ml metal dariole moulds. Have ready a large 25cm x 35cm (approximately) baking dish.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until boiling, then stir in the tasty cheese until melted.

In a bowl, whisk together the parmesan, cream, eggs, flour, pumpkin, corn and salt, then fold in the cheese mixture until well combined.

Place the tomato halves, cut side down, decoratively in the base of the dariole moulds. Spoon the pumpkin mixture into the moulds, filling each to three-quarters full. Place in the baking dish and pour in water to a depth of 2cm up the sides of the moulds. Bake for 40 minutes or until the timbales are set.

Meanwhile, to make the pancetta crumb, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and lightly coat with cooking oil. Place the pancetta slices in the pan and cook, turning once, until crisp.

Cool, then process to a crumb in a food processor or chop very finely. To make the sage butter, melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan and cook the sage leaves for 5 minutes over a medium-low heat.

Remove the dariole moulds from the baking dish and leave to stand for 5 minutes before turning the timbales out onto serving plates. Drizzle with the warm sage butter and sprinkle with pancetta crumbs.

This recipe is from 
A Kitchen in the Valley,
by Sally Wise
published by ABC Books
RRP $45 
(available from ABC Online 
and good book stores.)