Easter Quiche with Wild Garlic
·Make the crumb dough
Cut the butter into small cubes and place in the food processor. Add the flour and, using the dough hook, mix briefly until you get a crumbly mixture – a dry, sandy texture with larger bits of fat still visible. Add a pinch of salt and 6 tablespoons of cold water.
Form a smooth dough
Keep the processor running until the crumbly mixture turns into a firm, non-sticky dough. If you don't have a food processor, knead all the ingredients by hand. Don't overwork it – the dough should stay as cool as possible.
Let it rest in the fridge
Once the dough comes together, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour, or even a few hours. This lets the butter and flour fully bind, which affects both the flavor of the dough and how easy it is to work with. You won't need extra flour when rolling it out.
Roll it out
Let the dough sit at room temperature for a bit so it's not too firm, then roll it out into a sheet about 0.5 cm thick. There's no need to dust with flour – it shouldn't stick. If you want to make things easier, roll the dough out directly on baking paper and it won't stick at all.
Transfer to the tin and prick it
Place the dough into a baking tin – a ceramic or non-stick pie dish both work well, whichever you're used to. Press the dough up the sides of the tin, prick it all over with a fork, line it with baking paper, then pour in a bag of dried beans to weigh it down.
Tip: beans for blind baking
Since we make savory pies at home quite often, I keep a container of beans specifically for blind baking and reuse the same ones every time.
Brush with egg
Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 15 minutes. Once done, take the crust out of the oven, remove the beans and baking paper, and brush the entire crust with beaten egg – covering the base and the sides too.
Tip:
You can use a bit of the egg you've already beaten for the filling – no need to crack an extra egg just for brushing the crust, since you won't use a whole one for that anyway. Once out of the oven, fill it with the mixture of eggs, cheese, herbs, meat…
Prepare the wild garlic
Rinse the wild garlic and blanch it in a bowl with hot water. After a minute, transfer it to a colander and rinse with cold water. Return it to the bowl and cover with cold water again. Drain and chop into pieces.
Whisk the eggs
Whisk the eggs with a whisk. Before adding the other ingredients, dip a silicone pastry brush into the eggs and use it to brush the pre-baked crust.
Add the cream
Add the cream and whisk thoroughly again. If you like, use a stand mixer and let the eggs and cream whip together for five to ten minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients
Into this mixture, add the grated cheese, the diced pre-cooked meat and the wild garlic. Season with salt and pepper, then mix thoroughly. You can also add fresh herbs of your choice – thyme works wonderfully here.
Bake
Pour the mixture onto the pre-baked crust and bake in an oven preheated to 170°C for about 45 minutes. Once baked, let it cool and serve warm or cold.
Serve with sour cream
A slice of this pie is wonderful with lightly salted and peppered sour cream on the side, perfect for dipping.
