Heirloom Tomato and Basil Quiche with Paté Brisee Crust
This wonderful and filling quiche is an excellent choice for lunch, dinner, or especially brunch. This particular recipe utilizes a homemade French pastry crust called paté brisee; and will make enough for two 9-inch crusts or a single double-crusted pie. If you end up with extra dough, simply freeze for future use. If time is not your friend, use a pre-made pie dough available in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores.
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Yield: Makes one double-crusted or two 9–inch single-crusted pies
Heirloom Tomato & Basil Quiche
Ingredients
Pie crust
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into ½-inch dice or frozen in stick form and shredded
- ¼ to 1/3 cup ice water
Quiche filling
- 1 pastry-lined 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom
- 2 to 3 large heirloom tomatoes
- 12 smaller teardrop tomatoes, various colors, cut in half
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 shallots, peeled and minced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch of white pepper
- 3 tablespoons chopped basil leaves; plus 2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil for garnish
- 1½ cups grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Instructions
Pie crust
- Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. With the motor on, add the butter through the feed tube. Process 10 to 15 seconds. The dough should resemble coarse meal.
- With machine running, drizzle ice water (keeping ice cubes out of the mixture) through the feed tube. Start with ¼ cup. To test the dough, put some dough between your fingers; the dough should come together when pressed between your fingers. If it is too dry, drizzle in a little more water. If the dough gets too wet, add a little more flour.
- Divide dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, then flatten each with the palm of your hand. Wrap disks with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling out. The raw pastry dough can be frozen for up to a month. Thaw dough overnight in the refrigerator.
Quiche filling
- Prepare the pastry crust: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one pastry disc. Lightly spray a 9-inch tart pan with nonstick cooking spray. Carefully place the rolled-out dough into the prepared pan. Try not to stretch the dough. Place the lined tart pan in the freezer for 30 minutes. Freezing the unfilled shell will keep the pastry from shrinking during the baking process. I like to freeze pastry-lined tart pans so I have them at the ready for a quiche or tart. If freezing for more than a few hours, loosely wrap the tart shells with plastic food wrap.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut heirloom tomatoes into ¼-inch slices. Place tomato slices on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet pan. Place additional paper towels on top and press gently. Let tomatoes rest while preparing the filling. The paper towels will absorb excess water from the tomatoes.
- In a small sauté pan, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute until just translucent. Remove from heat.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the chopped fresh basil. Place the chilled pastry-lined tart shell on a baking sheet pan. Spread the shallot garlic mixture on the bottom of the tart shell. Place half of the heirloom tomatoes on top of the shallots, interspersing half of the smaller tomato halves between the larger slices. Sprinkle top of tomatoes with half of the cheese. Gently pour the egg mixture into the tart pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the egg mixture. Arrange the remaining heirloom tomatoes on top of the tart, interspersing the remaining smaller tomato halves between the larger slices. Bake in the preheated oven until tart is set, about 40 minutes. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes. Carefully lift quiche out of the pan. Sprinkle the remaining fresh basil on top of the baked quiche.
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