Endive and leek quiche, inspired by Julia Child's book

Patricia, author of the gastronomic blog Sabores y Momentos , presents us with a recipe that will please young and old: a very healthy endive and leek quiche. It has been inspired by the recipes of Julia Child, who, as you well know, we have great admiration for. So there is only one thing left to say: bon appétit!

I just turned 3 years as a blogger, it seems like yesterday. It has flown by, which means that I have enjoyed it and boy have I enjoyed it and savor it every day, with each recipe that I share with you. And by sharing through Claudia & Julia's blog there are many more of you who know me and try my recipes, so from here I thank you too!

It is cold, quite cold around here and in many other areas in the north of our country. And a dish that I cook a lot these days is the Quiche. It admits many fillings and is very versatile, but what comforts me the most is that preparing it means having the oven on and my kitchen smelling of vegetables and baked dough.

I have published several recipes for these delicious savory tarts over the past three years, as we love them at home, so when Julia Child's wonderful book fell into my hands, one of the recipes I knew she would nail were the quiches. . So when I saw the one with leeks I thought of the delicious taste of leeks together with butter, poached and then baked…mmmm….But when I saw the one with endives I couldn't resist! With which, how could it be otherwise, I bring you the endive but with that irresistible touch of leek.

I don't know if many of you know something about the story of Julia Child , I have to admit that it is fascinating, I recommend you to see the film based on her life "Julie & Julia" (starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams), but surely I recommend, if you like cooking, that you get your book " The art of French cuisine " because it is one of those kitchen jewels that you can enjoy page by page and that, in my case, I am reading it as if it were a novel because of the wonderful way he has of making recipes that may not seem so simple. I admit that I am hooked and that I enjoy every recipe I try from him, although I eat this one after I gave it my touch.

For this recipe I have of course chosen one of Emile Henry's beautiful pans , the Emile Henry corrugated ceramic cake pan . Those of you who are lucky enough to have one in your hands know that there is nothing comparable, they are jewels for life. I am lucky to already have several pieces that I have treasured over the years and not only is it a luxury to cook with them, but bringing our dishes to the table served on them makes our dishes look much more beautiful! Your table will be beautiful with a simple recipe baked in these precious jewels!!

So let's go with the recipe that I'm sure you'll love! For the quiche we need a good shortcrust pastry, tender and crunchy that has a butter flavor that I recommend making at home, although if we are short of time we can always use the shortcrust pastry sold in the supermarket. I also leave you the recipe for the day you want to try it.

Ingredients for shortcrust pastry:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 170g butter, very cold and cut into cubes
• 4 tablespoons cold vegetable margarine
• 1/2 cup of cold water

Ingredients for the quiche filling:

• 3 endives sliced ​​into thin rings
• 1 leek sliced ​​into thin rings
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 40g butter
• 4 eggs M
• 200 ml liquid cream
• A pinch of nutmeg
• A pinch of freshly ground pepper
• 100g gruyere or emmental cheese

Elaboration

To make the shortcrust pastry by hand, you have to work quickly as you don't want the butter to soften. Put the flour, salt, sugar, butter and margarine in a large bowl and mix quickly with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbled into small pieces. Add the water and mix quickly by hand (if we see that we need one more tablespoon of water, we add it). Firmly press the dough (it has to be together, malleable but not sticky) and shape it into a ball.

We put the dough on the previously floured table and with the base of the hand we quickly press the dough sliding it forward, so that the fat and flour will finish mixing completely. Put the dough back together and shape it into a ball again. Dust it with flour and wrap it in waxed paper to put it in the freezer for an hour, or if you prefer, we can leave it in the fridge all night.

It is important to stretch the dough very quickly, so we will put the dough on the table where we are going to work it, previously floured and with a rolling pin we will hit if it is very cold and stretch it to form a more or less flat circle. Helping us with flour, we stretch with the roller in the center, moving the dough forwards and backwards firmly but gently. We are raising the dough and turning it around, turning it and passing the roller until it forms a circle about 2mm thick. We must use the dough as soon as it has been stretched so that it does not soften.

Roll the dough with a rolling pin and unroll it on top of the mold , lightly press the dough into the bottom of the mold and cover the walls, letting it go beyond them by about 3-4mm so that they remain more solid. We cut the excess dough by passing the roller through the upper part of the mold and with our thumbs we are squeezing the dough to create a uniform edge. So that the walls do not fall apart, we can use baking paper filled with a handful of dried vegetables, so that the weight of these will keep the base well attached to the mold during the cooking time. Bake in a preheated oven at 200º for about 7-10 minutes or until lightly golden. We take it out, remove the paper with the legumes and put it back in for a couple more minutes. We take out and without turning off the oven, we prepare our filling.

In a pot, boil the endives and leeks with the water, salt and butter over moderate heat until there is almost no liquid left. Reduce the heat and leave for another 20 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

In a bowl, we beat the eggs together with the cream and the other ingredients. Add little by little the leek and endive, already tender, taste for salt and spread over the already baked base. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the upper part of the oven at 180º until it has risen and is golden.

This quiche is as delicious hot as it is cold, so it will serve you both for winter and for a summer picnic!! I hope you liked it!