We most often think of avocados as something to be eaten raw, either alone with a squeeze of lemon juice and a grind of black pepper, or as a garnish or part of a salad. While they are delicious served like this, they can also be cooked – this unusual flan makes a good talking point, and has a delicate and interesting flavour.

Avocado Flan

1 large ripe avocado

1 cup cottage cheese

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 spring onions

1 cup mashed potato

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 sheets filo pastry

1 Tbsp olive or other oil

1 or 2 avocados for decoration, optional

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. While the oven heats, halve the avocado and scoop the flesh into a large mixing bowl and mash with a fork. Add the cottage cheese, eggs and salt and mix into the avocado. Chop the leaves as well as the stems of the spring onions. Add these, the mashed potatoes and the Parmesan cheese and stir well to mix everything.

Open the packet of filo, remove four sheets (seal and refrigerate the remainder). Brush three sheets of filo lightly with oil and stack them one on top of another. Place the unoiled sheet on top, then ease the stacked sheets into a 23cm flan tin or pie plate, then fold the edges in and under to form the edge of the pie.

Turn the avocado mixture into the unbaked pastry shell, level the top, and bake at 200C for 10 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Turn the oven down to 180C and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the centre feels firm.

An ideal accompaniment for this flan is mango salsa, which you can prepare while the flan bakes. To make the salsa toss 1 cup finely diced mango (fresh or canned) and 1 finely chopped spring onion together with 1 tablespoon of lime (or lemon) juice, 1/2 a teaspoon of minced fresh chilli and 1-2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaf, then season to taste with salt.

Serve the flan warm, plain or decorated with overlapping, thin slices of avocado (dip these in lemon juice first, to stop them from browning).

Top individual servings with a generous spoonful of the salsa.

Note: For quick mashed potato, cut a scrubbed potato into 1-cm cubes and microwave in an oven bag with 1 Tbsp water for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Drain off any remaining water and squeeze bag to mash potatoes.