Niçoise tomato quiche

You’ll love the quiche Loreto brings us from Sabores de Colores! The combination of olives, tomato, and anchovies results in a very Mediterranean flavor, and in quiche form it becomes especially appetizing and original. Enjoy!

When the film Julie&Julia was released in cinemas, I didn’t wait a second before ordering the book it was based on. It hadn’t yet been published in Spanish, but I needed to have all its recipes close at hand, and so those two beautiful volumes became bedside and reference books. Both the recipes and the illustrations are a dream. And if you still don’t have it, Book Day is coming up, and it’s the perfect excuse for it to become part of your culinary library! (its Spanish version is now available!)

And since the good weather is approaching, I couldn’t resist imagining those outdoor meals where a delicious quiche simply can’t be missing. The one I’m bringing you today, besides being very Mediterranean, is completely different from the ones we’re used to enjoying. In this case it doesn’t contain cream, and its main base is fresh tomato.

To make this quiche I used a Kitchen Craft round ceramic dish, the perfect size so there isn’t even a spoonful of filling left over, and of course with a shortcrust pastry base, also a recipe by Julia Child, crisp, buttery, and not at all heavy. If you can’t be bothered to make it, you can use a ready-made base, although you already know the result isn’t the same.

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 people)

For the shortcrust pastry:

140 g flour
85 g cold butter in small cubes
28 g cold lard in small pieces
3- 4 ½ tablespoons ice water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon sugar (optional)

For the Niçoise quiche filling:

40 g finely chopped onion
900 g peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato. Plus 1 sliced tomato for decorating
1 egg and 3 yolks
8 anchovy fillets plus the oil from the tin they come in
3 tablespoons tomato paste
12 pitted black olives
25 g grated Parmesan
1 pinch ground cayenne
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 /2 teaspoon oregano, basil, or thyme (you can mix them if you like or use whichever you prefer)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

For the shortcrust pastry:

1. Place all the ingredients, except the water, in the bowl of our mixer, and with the paddle attachment mix at high speed, stopping about 4-5 times, until you get a sandy texture. Doing it in batches prevents the dough from warming up. With so much fat, that happens easily.

2. Once we have achieved the desired texture, add 3 tablespoons of water, switch on the mixer, and see whether the dough comes together into a ball or needs more water. If so, add the remaining water.

3. Remove from the mixer onto a floured surface and work it until you get a dough with a cool, smooth texture. Form a ball, wrap in baking paper, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

4. Once the dough has rested, roll it out on a floured surface with the help of a rolling pin (I used the Le Creuset wooden rolling pin, which I’m in love with). Roll the dough into a circle about 4 mm thick.

Le Creuset wooden rolling pin, Kitchen Craft quiche dish and Le Creuset cast iron skillet

5. Next, and carefully, roll the dough onto the rolling pin and place it over our Kitchen Craft ceramic dish, always previously buttered and floured. Trim the excess edges, cover with baking paper, and place Kitchen Craft ceramic baking beans on top of the dough (or use chickpeas or other dried legumes as weights), put it into a preheated oven at 200ºC and bake for 8 minutes, remove from the oven, take away the beans and paper, and bake again for 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the Niçoise quiche filling:

6. Gently cook the chopped onion in our Le Creuset skillet over low heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped tomatoes, from which we will have removed the skin and seeds, the crushed garlic, the herbs, the half teaspoon of salt, and the pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. After this time, uncover and cook until almost all the tomato juices have evaporated. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

7. In a bowl beat the egg together with the yolks, add the chopped anchovies, the tomato paste, 3 tablespoons of oil (including the anchovy oil), the chopped parsley, the paprika, and the pinch of cayenne. Mix well. Next add the tomato and onion mixture, combine well, and adjust the salt and pepper if necessary (remember that anchovies are very salty). Set aside.

8. Place the filling over the partially blind-baked shortcrust pastry, sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, arrange the tomato slices and olives, drizzle with a tablespoon of oil, and bake at 190ºC (always in a preheated oven) for 25-30 minutes or until the quiche has puffed up and browned on the surface.

Recipes by Julia Child never fail -this delicious quiche, without the cream we’re used to enjoying them with, is truly delicious. And as you already know, quiches can be enjoyed hot, warm, or even cold. They’re always a success!

Loreto