Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Quiche (Recipe)

Joy Anna Becvarik — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:56:12 +0000

What did I do with my first ever homemade spelt quiche crust?

I made it into one of my favorite recipes to date.

Like I said in my last post, living in France has made me want to learn how to make quiche. Unlike the crust, I’ve been practicing on the filling for about a year now. First, I tried other peoples’ recipes (I’m a fan of this one on Clotilde’s blog Chocolate & Zucchini). Then, I started experimenting with some of my own.

My roasted red pepper and goat cheese quiche was quite a project, and, including the crust, I’ve broken it down into 7 steps. Don’t worry, they’re little steps.

What I liked best about this quiche was that it tasted wholesome, thanks mainly to the crackly texture and nutty flavor of the spelt flour (and the sesame seeds decorating the edges of the crust). It also tasted gourmet, thanks to the freshly roasted red peppers and melted chèvre. Like my squash blossom recipe, you need to have the right goat cheese. I asked my local fromager for advice and she recommended a fresh goat cheese from Charente (Domaine de Sansac). Of the selection she proposed, she said most people chose this one for cooking. It was good advice. Now for the recipe:

Shopping List:
Spelt pie crust
2 red bell peppers
1/2 large red onion
A handful of pine nuts
3 eggs
1/4 cup crème fraîche (or other cream or milk)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Fresh goat cheese (about 1/3 cup, cut or broken into small, half-inch pieces)
Brown sesame seeds (toasted)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Dried herbs, such as thyme

Step 1: Roast the peppers

1. Clean and cut peppers into 6 pieces each.
2. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until roasted. Turn over from time to time, at least halfway through baking. They will be soft and blackening when finished. Set aside when done.

Step 2: Sauté the onion (while the peppers are baking)

1. Dice onion and sauté in a little olive oil until slightly transparent and browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Step 3: Toast the pine nuts (at the same time as the onions)

1. Simply place un-toasted nuts in a frying pan and toast over medium heat. They toast really quickly, so be careful and don’t let them burn! Set aside

Step 4: Prepare the filling (when the peppers are about done)

1. Beat eggs, crème fraâche, mustard and a bit of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

Step 5: Make the crust

Click here for the recipe.

Step 6: Put it all together

First layer over crust: onions
Second layer: goat cheese
Third layer: 3/4 of the egg mixture
Fourth layer: peppers (arrange like a flower, coming out from the middle)
Fifth layer: the rest of the egg mixture
Sixth layer: pine nuts
Finishing touches: Decorate the edges of the crust with sesame seeds (they stick better over a bit of the left-over egg mixture). Finish off with a few sprinkles of dried herbs and a dash of freshly ground pepper.

Step 7: Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 25-30 minutes.

The top will be golden brown when finished.

We ate our quiche with a simple salad of lettuce, endive and vinaigrette. Perfect!

Spelt Quiche Crust (Recipe)

Joy Anna Becvarik — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:29:38 +0000

Not too long ago, I bought a bag of organic spelt flour (farine d’épeautre) at a nearby health-food store.

This wasn’t the first time I’d ventured into the more “unusual” flour section of the store. I’d had my eyes on this particular flour for a while, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to actually purchase some. Since moving to France, I’ve also wanted to learn to make quiche crust. So, with my flour in one hand and a plethora of memories (and advice) from my mom’s kitchen in the other, I set out to make my first spelt quiche crust.

Why give spelt flour a try? It’s not only easier to digest than conventional wheat flour, it’s high in protein and has a pleasant, slightly nutty taste.

Note 1: In general, you should use less liquid when cooking with spelt flour.

Note 2: Do NOT overwork the dough! That’s my mom’s secret to keeping it light and airy.

Note 3: Instead of rolling this dough out, I pressed it directly into the quiche mold. This also helped it stay light and kept the dough (spelt has a crackly texture) from falling apart while rolling and transferring.

Shopping List:
3/4 cup (105 grams) spelt flour
3/4 cup (105 grams) unbleached white flour
1/2 cup (113 grams) salted butter (chilled)
very cold milk (roughly four spoonfuls)

1. Combine flours in a mixing bowl.
2. Cut butter into flour (small cubes) and mix with fingers (no using any utensils!) until the butter has taken the shape of very small rounds and is well-mixed with the flour.
3. Add a few spoonfuls of milk, less rather than more, and pat dough together with your palms. This is where you have to be careful not to overwork the dough- five hand-movements to fold it all together is perfect. If you have the right amount of liquid, it should all come together in a (not-so-smooth) mound of dough.
4. Line quiche mold with wax paper and press dough directly into it.
5. Poke the bottom and sides with a fork to avoid air bubbles.

Uncooked, it’s ready for your favorite filling.

The Tomato Knife » quiche

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Quiche (Recipe)

Spelt Quiche Crust (Recipe)