Pumpkin and Parmesan Baked Flans

My son enjoyed one of these for lunch and was like, Wow, these are soooo good!  Yup they are and I had one for lunch too!  It's amazing what you can do with a can of pumpkin.  Let me tell you, these are super easy - don't let the water bath for the ramekins scare you off!  You can also use French onion soup bowls for these too - whatever is oven proof.  These make about 4 ramekins and are perfect as a first course for a luncheon.

Put oven to 350 degrees

Take out 4 ramekins.  Also take out a roasting pan and fill it up with enough water so when you place the ramekins in the hot water, it will come up half way on the ramekins.

I filled up the roasting pan with water and put into a 350 degree oven until the water is nice and hot.  You can also boil water in a kettle and put it into the roasting pan if you prefer.

In a bowl mix up 1 cup of canned pumpkin, 3 eggs, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 generous cup of grated Parmesan cheese.  You can also add a stronger cheese like Gorgonzola, then add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Whisk mixture up and then pour into Pam sprayed ramekins.  Top with roasted walnuts or as I did, walnuts and cranberries from one of those salad topper packages. I also garnished with dried chili pepper and chives.

Set ramekins gently into roasting pan with water that comes up half way and bake for about 40 minutes. Absolutely Heavenly!