QUICHE OF THE DAY - LEEK, BACON AND ASPARAGUS

The asparagus season is well under way and I bought a large bundle on the market.  I added sliced leek, chunky smoked lardons and a sprinkling of Emmental cheese for a delicious and filling quiche.

The circles of ready made, ready rolled pastry here in France is large enough to allow an overlap of my 20cm tart tin.  This prevents the pastry from shrinking away from the edge during blind baking.

Sitting the tart tin on a baking sheet avoids accidents where the loose bottom of the tin is pushed up through the pastry when lifting it in and out of the oven.

It has happened to me!

The quiche puffed up during baking but sank back down again as it cooled.

Ingredients

 

1 ready made pack of shortcrust pastry

8 sticks of asparagus, trimmed and halved

1 pack of smoked lardons

1 large leek, trimmed, cleaned and sliced thinly

4 eggs

2 tblsp cream or crème fraîche

about 200ml milk

a handful of Emmental cheese

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180° fan / gas mk 6.  Grease the base and sides of a 20cm loose bottomed tart tin.

Allow the pastry to come up to room temperature to avoid it cracking when you unroll it.  Line the tin with the excess draped over the edge, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans.  Blind bake for 15 minutes.

While the pastry is baking, cook the lardons in a frying pan on gentle heat.  There should be sufficient fat on them but add a little oil if necessary.  Add the sliced leeks and cook until almost tender.

Cook the asparagus spears in a little boiling water for a few minutes until just tender.

Remove the tart from the oven and lift out the paper and beans.  If the pastry looks damp, return to the oven for another five minutes.

Beat the eggs in a measuring jug with the cream or crème fraîche and make up to 400ml with the milk.  Season with pepper but go easy on the salt as the lardons will be salty.

Spread the leek and lardons mixture over the pastry case then arrange the asparagus on top.  Pour the egg mixture over but don't over fill.  Liquid spilling over the top of the case will cause the pastry to stick to the tin like glue!  

Sprinkle with the grated cheese and return to the oven.  Reduce the temperature by 20° to 180°C / 160° fan and bake for around 30 minutes until lightly browned and set.  There should be a slight wobble but no liquid in the middle.  

Remove from the oven and whilst still warm trim off the excess pastry with a small sharp knife before turning out onto a plate.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cuts into 6 slices.

FRIDGE BOTTOM FRITTATA

As time goes by we have become more adept at using up what we have in stock rather than shop for more food.  There are several reasons for this.  

The first is probably because we have more time to cook.

The second is that we are much further from any shops.  There is a village shop which sells a limited range of basics about 3km away but a supermarket selling everything is at least a twenty minute drive away.  We therefore shop less frequently and make sure we use everything up.

The third is that out here in rural France fresh produce does not seem to keep as long as stuff that we used to get from say Tesco or Sainsbury's.  I don't know why that is but we find ways to use up leftovers and veg before they become too tired.

The fourth is thrift.  Now that we are retired we have to be a bit more careful.  We enjoy eating out and balance the cost of that with sensible shopping.

The fifth is to avoid waste, for all the reasons above.

 

There are several ways to use up random leftovers of cooked or raw food.  You can make them into soup, into a quiche, in a salad, a gratin, or one of our favourites, a frittata.

This one had in it leeks, broccoli (stalks and florets) cherry tomatoes, courgettes and cooked brussels sprouts plus leftover bbq bits and pieces including smoked sausage and baby potatoes. You could add any herbs or spices, fresh or dried, or chilli flakes.

As a friend of mine used to say, if you have eggs, you have dinner!

Ingredients

1 leek, trimmed and sliced thinly

a few cherry tomatoes, halved

a handful of broccoli florets and the stalk, trimmed and sliced

a piece of cooked sausage

1 courgette, washed and sliced

a few cooked leftover sprouts, halved

4 eggs beaten

1 tblsp crème fraîche or cream

Herbs, fresh or dried

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C / 180 fan.

Cook the broccoli in boiling water for a few minutes until tender.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan with an ovenproof handle.  Cook the leeks and courgette until tender. 

Add the tomatoes, potatoes, sprouts and sausage and stir into the pan.

Beat the eggs with the crème fraîche.  Season with salt and pepper and add a few chopped herbs, fresh or dried if you like.

Pour the egg mixture over the veg mixture and heat gently until the bottom is cooked but the top still liquid.  

Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are set.  If you don't have a frying pan with a metal/ovenproof handle, you can cook the whole thing in the oven, just tip the veg etc into a baking dish or tray, pour the egg mixture over and cook in the oven for a little longer.

Serve hot with salad or other veg.  Also good cold.

Serves 2-3, depending on what you serve with it.