Q: Have you eaten at the Cafe de Nice in Buckhead recently? For lunch the chef served a ratatouille flan, a savory little custard full of tender chopped vegetables atop dressed salad greens. Mmm, good. Can you persuade him to share the recipe? It would be so versatile, for brunch or lunch, hot or cold.

-- Lois Debreceni, Atlanta

A: Dan Harrar (left) chef/owner of Cafe de Nice, was happy to share the recipe for this dish. He explains, "Flan de ratatouille is a specialty from Nice in the south of France. It's a very refreshing appetizer we love to serve in the summer. It is similar to a quiche but without the crust."

Harrar serves the flan over salad greens tossed with a fresh tomato dressing, which you can re-create by pureeing fresh tomatoes with your favorite vinaigrette. He adorns the dish with black olives, spring onions and fresh basil.

-- Jeanne Besser, for the Journal-Constitution

MAIN DISH

Ratatouille Flan

Makes 8 servings

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus 2 hours or more to cool

Cooking time: 1 1/4 hours

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small zucchini, diced

1 small eggplant, diced

1/2 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/2 small green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/2 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 small onion, diced

1/2 head garlic, peeled and diced

3 large ripe tomatoes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence or to taste

4 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

Salad mix

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add zucchini and saute until softened. Remove to a bowl. In the same skillet add 1 tablespoon oil. Add eggplant and saute until softened. Remove to bowl with zucchini. In the same skillet add 1 tablespoon oil. Add red, green and yellow peppers and saute until softened. Remove to bowl with zucchini.

In the same skillet add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until softened.

In a blender, chop tomatoes into large chunks. Add to onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables give up their liquid. Add the reserved vegetables and sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbes de Provence and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add cream and a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Add the ratatouille and stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Butter eight 6- to 8-ounce ramekins. Divide ratatouille custard among ramekins. Place ramekins in a large roasting pan filled halfway with hot water and cook for 35 to 45 minutes, or until just set.

Remove from water bath and chill until cooled. Run a knife around edges of ramekins to loosen flan and invert onto individual plates lined with salad.

Per serving: 237 calories (percent of calories from fat, 75), 5 grams protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 20 grams fat, 130 milligrams cholesterol, 147 milligrams sodium.

Is there a restaurant recipe you'd like to make at home? Tell us what you're looking for and perhaps we can get it. If we succeed, we'll have the recipe tested and adapted for the home kitchen, if necessary. Because of volume, we can't answer all inquiries. Send your request, along with address and phone number, to:

Mail: Food Department, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303.

E-mail: menu@ajc.com. Fax: 404-526-5509.