Leek and Parmesan Quiche, with Mâche Salad
It's been a great few days. On Friday, I got all dressed up with the kids for Halloween - they're 4 and 6, so they were really into it this year. On Saturday, Wona and I were thrilled to see a story on us in the Wall Street Journal! Being independent authors/publishers, we were quite pleased and quite busy afterwards! On Sunday, I looked at some pretty leeks I had brought home and decided that lunch would feature them as the headliner.
If you like leeks, this quiche recipe is for you. I love them! Leeks have a wonderful very mild onion-y flavor and an almost creamy texture when sauteed. They're a favorite in many soups. The recipe below is a very good "basic" quiche recipe, opening the door to your own creativity. Instead of leeks, you can add about 2-3 cups worth of your favorite ingredients. For example, sundried tomatoes and spinach, asparagus and ham, or artichoke hearts and criminis. You can also play with the cheese, adding an equal amount of a different cheese.
Leek Quiche
1 frozen Ready Made Pie Crust, thawed and put into ovensafe pie dish
2 cups finely sliced leeks (about one trimmed leek)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
Tomato slices (about 5-6 cocktail tomatoes or two regular tomatoes)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Saute the leeks in olive oil just until they soften (a couple of minutes).
- Whisk together the eggs and half and half. Stir in the cheese, leeks, nutmeg, and salt.
- Pour mixture into pie crust and very gently top with the tomato slices. They will sink slightly, but the top face will remain visible.
- Bake for 40 minutes (or until a knife inserted into center comes out clean).
- Let it cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve.
A nice balance to quiche is a fresh green salad. Right now at Trader Joe's I'm finding mâche, which is also known as lamb's lettuce. It's a very soft, delicate, buttery-textured lettuce with small rounded leaves. Toss it simply with a mild dressing to enjoy its subtle flavors. I added some fruits and some of those sesame honey coated cashews that are so addictive!
Posh Mâche Salad
1 bag mâche
2 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup Sesame Honey Cashews
Dressing:
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey
pepper and sea salt to taste
- Combine first four ingredients
- Stir the dressing ingredients until emulsified and pour over salad, giving a toss to coat.
I LOVE leeks. I could eat them everyday just sauteed with a little salt and pepper.
Can't wait to try the recipe. Great tip about making simple variations. Many recipes in one!
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I'm off to buy some leeks! The recipe looks delish! The TJ pie crust is wonderful.
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Made it (the quiche, not the salad) and loved it! It was tasty and much lighter than I thought it would be. The tomatoes on top made it look like it was right out of this French bakery I go to. Pretty!
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My favorite seasoning blend, Trader Joe's Pasta Seasoning Blend has been discontinued! Please tell all your friends to got to TJ's and request they bring it back. It is the ultimate seasoning for chicken and fish as well as pasta. It should be re-name as Everything Blend! If they get enough requests they'll bring it back
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I always thought quiche must be hard to make since it seems so fancy and people don't usually make it. But now that I've tried it....How simple! Loved the other mushroom quiche recipe too. Thanks for demystifying it all for me.
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Please go to TJ's website and ask them to bring back the Pasta Seasoning Blend. Or ask them if they'll share the recipe so we can make our own. It was wonderful, but I guess that too few people discovered it in time.
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Mmm, these images looks very yummy!
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Great salad! I would like to have these sorts of plants here in London!
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