3 Large Eggs
2/3 Cup Milk – 180ml
1/4 Cup Cream – 66ml
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Pepper
60g Cup Crumbled Feta Cheese
Optional 8-10 Black Olives – pips removed
1 Med Tomato chopped
¼ tsp Dried/ 1 small sprig fresh Thyme or Rosemary
Directions
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and trim the edges. (Alternatively, a 9-inch pie pan can be used.) Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F or 160 C
Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust is set, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and milk and cream. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour into the prepared crust and bake until the custard is golden, puffed, and set yet still slightly wiggly in the centre, 30 to 35 minutes
Flaky Butter Crust:
1 1/4 Cups All-purpose Flour – 175g
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 stick Butter, chilled and cut into pieces – 113g
1 to 2 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed – 30 ml
To make the dough by hand, combine the flour, salt, and butter in a medium bowl, and mix with a knife and your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough comes together and is no longer dry, being careful not to over-mix. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface according to the recipe, fit it into the pan, and allow to rest again in the refrigerator or freezer before baking. (freezer is for the impatient)
Yield: one 9-inch (25 cm) tart or pie-crust.
Helpful Tips
- Make sure that your butter is nice and cold
- Do not over work your dough, to much handling will develop the gluten and make your dough chewy and shrink back
- Once you have lined your baking vessel with the dough chill it in the freezer for an hour
- Create venting holes by pricking the dough with a fork
- Pre-bake the pastry – uncooked dough is soggy and has no flavour
- Add some Herbs, the make the other ingredients sing
- Reheating pastry in the oven makes the pastry chewy, reheating baked goods in the oven at 325F or 160C tastes better but require a bit more effort.
- Experiment with other ingredient, for instance you can replace fresh tomatoes with sun-dried tomatoes.
- Roma tomatoes are best for Quiche and Tomato Sauce because they have a firmer flesh.