Saturday, November 16, 2013

Smoked trout quiche provencal (French)


The quiche is a savory French pie. The Quiche Lorraine is the original, but there are a lot of classic variations of it. For instance, when it contains spinach it's called florentine, when it contains tomatoes it's called provencal and so on (according to the history of quiches).
The one we made here, I'm sure you've guessed it, is with fresh tomatoes. And it's also with trout because we love smokiness and wanted to try a healthier version apart from the regular bacon. And also because fish pies are so deeply rooted in European peasant tradition it would be a shame not to feature at least one here. What kind of an anthropologist would I be then? :)

But besides all these abstract motivations, the truth is it just tastes good. The tomatoes and smoked fish match each other perfectly, and the fact that the fish is not salmon, the usual smoked fish we use (which has a chewier texture), but instead is trout makes it flakier and more spread out through the pie. And the rest of the ingredients.. well, as you'll see, they create the perfect hearty vessel for the two main flavors.
Enjoy.

Last year: Cream of wild mushroom soup (American).
Two years ago: White chocolate and blueberry cupcakes.




Ingredients (for a 23-24 cm springform tin):
  • 225 g flour
  • 100 g butter
  • 25 g grated Parmesan
  • 1/3 teaspoon chili powder
  • a few tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1-2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
  • 125 g smoked trout
  • 2 small/medium tomatoes
  • 100 g grated Emmental cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 200 ml liquid cream (30% fat)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • salt 


Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
Put the flour, cold butter (cut into cubes), grated Parmesan and chili in a bowl:

Mix into a dough, adding a few tablespoons of cold water to combine it well. Roll the dough and line the springform tin with it, making sure you create a 4 cm high border up the walls of the tin. Poke it with a fork.

Put it in the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (preferably with pie weights or dry beans, but works without them too). Meanwhile, chop the onion and fry it in the oil until golden. Add the dried herbs and mix.

Take the quiche shell out of the oven:

Lower the oven's temperature to 150 degrees C. Put the onions in an even layer on the bottom of the quiche. Top with the smoked trout, torn into flakes:

Cut the tomatoes into wedges and add them on top of the fish.
Lightly beat the eggs with a bit of salt to taste, then mix in the cream and flour. Also mix in half of the grated cheese (50 g). Pour it over the tomatoes. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top:

Put it in the oven and bake it for 45-50 minutes. Take out and allow to cool for 5 minutes:

Transfer to a serving platter, slice and dig in! :)

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