Onto another savoury dish. This time it is Quiche Lorraine, but I added some cherry tomatoes into the mix, which is not the way the purists would do it, I am sure.
Having done some research I discover that some people put onions and cheese in Quiche Lorraine, but my readings informed me that these ingredients are really not part of a real Quiche Lorraine. Since I dont like cooked cheese it was no hardship for me to forego that ingredient. Of course the adding of cherry tomatoes also deviates from the purist way of doing it, but I just couldn’t resist, and they were sitting on the counter just begging to be used.
The recipe I used came from The Greedy Frog and on his page he gives lots of pics of the various steps. He also explains why no cheese or onions should be used.
- 300 g plain flour
- 150 g unsalted butter, cold, diced
- 200 g lardons (or diced bacon, or pancetta)
- 3 eggs
- 250 ml crème fraîche
- 150 ml double cream
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cherry Tomatoes if you wish to use them
- Make the pastry. In a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and the butter to the flour. Work the flour into the butter between your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add enough cold water to bind, knead briefly then form into a ball (you can of course use a food processor instead if you prefer).
- Wrap in cling film then chill for 20 min.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/ fan 180C/ gas 6.
- Roll out the pastry to line a 28 cm fluted tart tin (re-form any leftover pastry into a ball and freeze for another time).
- Chill again for 10 min, then line with foil, add baking beans, and bake blind for 15 min.
- Remove the foil and beans, and return to the oven for 5 min.
- While the pastry is in the oven, heat up a non-stick frying pan, and dry-fry the lardons for a few minutes. They should colour slightly, but make sure they don’t get crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.
- In a large jug, slightly beat the egg, then mix with the creams. Season, being careful not to add too much salt, as the lardons will be quite salty already.
- Scatter the lardons over the pastry base, pull the oven shelf partially out of the oven, and place the tin on it. Carefully pour the filling, stopping just below the edge of the pastry.
- Carefully drop in cherry tomatoes, if you are using them.
- Push the shelf in gently, and bake for about 20 min until golden on top and soft in the middle.