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.
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