Leek Quiche

I actually didn't like leek but it looks like that my taste has changed. In these last months I funnily cooked some dishes using leek. And last Thursday, I craved for a leek quiche. First I wanted to make Julie Child's Leek Quiche but I forgot to add eggs when I was making the pastry. This was my second quiche from scratch and the result surprised me (again). I must say, I had a little doubt while making the pastry. It was so crumby and I added 2 tablespoons more iced water than it's said on the recipe. It also said that you shouldn't knead the dough in order to get a crispy crust but I did knead the dough after I read Julie Child's recipe. The crust was still crispy.

Adapted from Times Online UK


Ingredients:
Pastry
185 gr (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
100 gr (1 stick) butter - chilled, chopped
1 - 2 tbsp iced water

Filling
200 gr unsalted butter
2 leeks -- get the white part, thinly sliced (I also used the green part)
Few sprigs of thyme -- leaves stripped
3 large eggs
200 ml heavy cream
3 tbsp grated Gouda cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture forms fine breadcrumbs. Add iced water to form a soft dough with your fingertips or using a flat-bladed knife or a pastry knife to mix it; remember: do not knead. Transfer the dough onto a plastic wrap, gather it together into a smooth ball. Chill for 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200°C or 400°F

Lightly grease a 30 cm diameter tin. Unwrap the dough and roll it out between two large sheets of baking paper of aluminum foil. Remove the top sheet of baking paper or aluminum foil and invert the pastry into the prepared tin, cutting off the excess pastry and chill the shell for 20 minutes

Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the butter in a pan, add sliced leeks, thyme then season well and cook over a medium heat until the leeks are soft. Stirring frequently. Remove from heat, cool completely

Line the shell with a baking paper and fill with beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans. Return the pastry shell to the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until dry and lightly browned. Set aside

Whisk together the eggs followed by the cream and milk. Strain into a jug and stir in the grated cheese. Season well with the salt and black pepper. Spread the softened leeks over the base of the pastry. Pour in enough of the egg and cream mixture to fill the pastry case to the rim. (To make it easier, half fill the tart and place on the bottom shelf of the oven. Pull the shelf out halfway, making sure the tart is still level, and pour in the rest of the filling.) Bake for 35-45 minutes until the quiche is set and golden on top. It should still have a slight wobble in the middle