Tarte au Chevre (Goat's Cheese and Onion Quiche)

Shamelessly stolen from the February 2011 issue of the Observer Food Monthly, where they share some excellent French recipes. I cheated and used store-bought pastry, and it wasn't as good, but I didn't have time to make it myself. I also had the wrong size tin so had to scale the recipe up by about 40%, and it worked fine, with 5 minutes extra cooking time.

We served this with their baked fennel (shown in the background of the photo), but I didn't find it a sufficient improvement on braised fennel to actually warrant bothering in future, unless I already had the oven on and felt like using the spare energy to heat something up.

For the quiche, you'll need a round 22cm tart tin at least 3.5cm deep with a removable base and beans for baking blind. I was extremely sceptical of their instructions for greasing the tin, but they really worked! One layer of butter, then another of flour.

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 200g flour
• 100g butter
• 1 egg yolk
• a little milk

For the filling

• 400g onions (usually 2-3)
• 25g butter
• 2 tsp thme leaves
• 2 eggs
• 200g creme fraiche or sour cream
• 200g full cream milk
• 180g goat's cheese

Blitz the flour and butter together in a food processor, until it forms tiny breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk and enough milk to make a pastry dough. Pat the pastry into a flat round and roll out large enough to line the tart tin. Lightly butter the tin and dust it with a small amount of flour, shaking off any excess. Lay the dough into the tin and push it right into the corners without stretching. Trim off the overhanging pastry and repair any holes. Chill for 20 minutes.

At 200C, pre-bake the pastry case, using greaseproof paper (or foil) and baking beans to hold down the base. After 20 minutes, remove the case from the oven, pour out the beans, remove the paper and bake again for another 5 minutes, until the base is dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and turn it down to 180C.

While the crust is pre-baking, you can finely slice and fry the onions in the butter and thyme for a good 20 minutes, over a low heat, until they are totally falling apart, golden and tender. Beat the eggs and creme fraiche together, then slowly add the milk. (It will look like way too much, but the volumes do work out!) When you have blind-baked the pastry shell, put the onions in a layer on the bottom, crumble over the goat's cheese, then pour over the rest of the filling mixture. Bake at 180C for 40 minutes. The centre should quiver when gently shaken. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes, so you can serve it warm.

Leek and Goat's Cheese Quiche

Very much borrowing from Delia's recipe here, except that I majorly cheat by using ready-bought pastry, and I omit the spring onions as I think I'm weirdly sensitive to them, and prefer not to use them when the dish is full of subtle flavours. I cooked this as soon as I got home, and it took me about an hour, with another ten minutes waiting for the quiche to cool down - utterly vital so that the quiche cuts and serves cleanly, but usually I find I am hungriest when I have nothing to do but wait. Luckily writing this blog means I can burn a few minutes taking photos :)

My pastry is not as neat as Delia's.

You'll need a 7-8" quiche tin, preferably with a removable base, and it helps to have a baking sheet to place it on so that you can move it in and out of the oven easily. This serves four, and is great with salad, steamed veg, or baked tomatoes. Have a few boiled, buttered new potatoes as well, if you're very hungry.

Ingredients:

• 350g ready-made shortcrust pastry, chilled
• 2 leeks
• 200g soft sharp goats cheese
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 200 ml crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Roll out the pastry on a lightly-floured surface until you can place your quiche tin inside, and have at least four inches of pastry all around the edge. Lift the pastry into the tin, and ease it down into the corners. Trim off some of the biggest excess, but leave a good two inches more than the edge of the tin, as it shrinks a lot in the oven. Brush the sides and base with a little beaten egg and fork the base, then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden-brown all over.

Meanwhile, top, tail and slice the leeks lengthwise, and rinse under running water, fanning the leaves apart to remove any dirt. Finely slice and fry in a heavy frying pan in a little olive oil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very wilted and beginning to caramelise. Remove from the heat, and break up the goats cheese into large pieces. Briskly stir the eggs and cream together in a jug, until well-combined, and season well with black pepper.

Place the leeks and cheese into the pastry casing, and pour over the egg and cream mixture, scraping out any extra with a spatula. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until puffed and golden-brown. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing - you can do it!