Recipe: Tomato and Goat Cheese Quiche and Flakey Pastry Dough (Joy of Cooking)

TOMATO AND GOAT CHEESE QUICHE



"The most famous of savory custards is quiche, a custard containing small bits of vegetables and/or cheese baked in a tart or pie crust. The basic proportions are 3 to 4 whole eggs for every 2 cups of milk. Using cream in place of milk or replacing one whole egg with 2 yolks gives you a richer, more custardy quiche. Quiche is traditionally prepared in a prebaked tart shell brushed with egg yolk to help prevent it from becoming soggy. Tomato and goat cheese make an excellent quiche, but fillings are endlessly variable."

1/2 recipe Flaky Pastry Dough (recipe follows)
1 pound plum tomatoes (about 6), cored, quartered lengthwise, and seeded
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
3/4 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 l/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or savory or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Plenty of ground black pepper

Prepare 1/2 recipe Flaky Pastry Dough (recipe follows). Roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick and fit into a buttered 9-inch quiche, tart, or pie pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Set a rack in the lowest position in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare the tomatoes and set aside.

Crumble goat cheese into a bowl. Slowly mash in the cream and milk with the back of a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the eggs, herbs, salt, and pepper and whisk until smooth.

Remove the pastry shell from the refrigerator and arrange the tomato quarters in the shell like the spokes of a wheel, with the pointed end (blossom end) toward the center of the quiche. Fill in the center with more tomato quarters. Pour the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.

Bake until the pastry and top are golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the quiche rest for 10 minutes to settle, then cut into wedges and serve.

FLAKY PASTRY DOUGH
Makes: two 9 inch pie crusts, or two 9 1/2- or 10-inch tart crusts, or one 9 inch covered pie crust

"This dough makes a light, flaky crust that shatters at the touch of a fork. If you need only a single pie or tart crust, decrease all ingredients by half or freeze half the dough for future use."

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon white sugar or 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup solid vegetable shortening, or 1/2 cup shortening and 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup plus 1 to 3 tablespoon ice water, divided

Using a rubber spatula, thoroughly mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

Break the shortening into large chunks; if using butter, cut it into small pieces, then add it to the flour mixture. Cut the fat into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with a pastry blender or by cutting in opposite directions with 2 knives, one held in each hand. As you work, periodically stir dry flour up from the bottom of the bowl and scrape clinging fat off the pastry blender or knives. When you are through, some of the fat should remain in pea-sized pieces; the rest should be reduced to the consistency of coarse crumbs or cornmeal. The mixture should seem dry and powdery and not pasty or greasy.

Drizzle 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water over the flour and fat mixture. Using the rubber spatula, cut with the blade side until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls. Press down on the dough with the flat side of the spatula. If the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water; if they do not, drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water over the top. Cut in the water, again using the blade of the spatula, then press with your hands until the dough coheres. The dough should look rough, not smooth.

Divide the dough in half, press each half into a round fiat disk, and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling. The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months; thaw completely before rolling.

Makes one 9-inch quiche, 6 servings
Source: Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Ethan Becker, Marion Rombauer Becker