Cooking with Wine

PREPARE THE DOUGH

Take the stick of butter from the refrigerator and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to making your dough. When ready, slice the butter into tablespoon sizes (8 pieces) or smaller – I cut a stick of butter in half lengthwise then cut 8 pieces – making 16.

Add flour, salt and cold butter to a food processor and pulse until the butter pieces are small – like rice or slightly larger at most.

Have a few tablespoons of extra flour handy in case you need it. If it is very humid when making your dough you might need a bit of flour – this should not be a dry dough, but shouldn’t be exceptionally sticky either. Put the dough on a surface – a bench or large cutting board – make a well in the middle and add the egg yolk and water. Use a fork to break the yolk and begin mixing in a little flour at a time.

Once about half of the flour is incorporated, knead until it is smooth and fully incorporated. Once finished, shape into a disc about ¾ inches thick and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate (rest) the dough for at least 20 minutes or up to a couple of hours.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

When dough is done resting, roll it out on a cutting board or surface to about ⅛ inch. You may need flour for this to make sure the dough doesn’t stick. We use a 6″ pastry mold to form the crust. Either butter the inside of the mold or spray with nonstick oil. Flour under the mold and put the dough into the mold, pushing down on the sides to the bottom and gently forming a crust. Trim the excess (there will be quite a bit if your mold is short like ours) so you can work the edge of the crust for a pretty appearance.

Once the bottom and sides are formed in the mold, create the edge of the crust using your fingers or any tool you wish to make an appealing shape/look. At this point, move the crust to your baking sheet lined with parchment paper to finish the process.

Dock the dough: using a fork, poke holes on the bottom and a few on the sides so the crust can let air in while it bakes. Line the dough with plastic wrap, add pie weights or dried beans to fill the shell (almost all the way) and fold the plastic inward over the beans/weights and make sure the plastic wrap is inside the crust.

Blind bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove the beans/weights from the dough. Then return to the oven for at least 20 minutes or until the crust is slightly past golden brown. This dough is resilient and you don’t want to leave it raw.

Make your custard while the crust continues to bake. Combine all ingredients for the custard and whisk thoroughly. Add a little (a pinch or so – maybe 2) of salt and some pepper for seasoning.

Once the crust is done, remove from oven and, using a pastry brush, coat the bottom and sides with your custard to fill the holes. Return to the oven for 3 minutes to seal the holes. Remove and cool before filling with the remaining custard and additions. Turn the oven down to 250ºF and place the custard in the fridge while you wait.

FOR THE ADDITIONS

You will want to keep all ingredients separate so you can add them in proportions you desire.

For the spinach, heat a skillet on medium heat and add about 2 tsp of oil. When hot, add spinach and turn, flip and stir quickly for about 20 seconds until the spinach is wilted. Remove to paper towels to drain off most of the oil. Then chop the spinach into small pieces.

In the same pan, add the prosciutto slices for about 15 seconds each, just enough to turn the fat from bright white to opaque. Thinly slice/chop the prosciutto as well.

Chop the basil and shallots into small pieces, and crumble the goat cheese.

FOR THE ASSEMBLY

Once the shell is cooled, and still inside the pastry ring and on the baking sheet, you can assemble. Add a ladle full of custard and about ⅓ of each of your additions to the crust. The more gentle you are in this process, the better chance you will have of the additions not all sinking to the bottom of the custard. Continue the process until the quiche is full.

Put quiche into the preheated (250ºF) oven. Check at 30 minutes and 5 minute intervals thereafter – this part is dependent on your oven and you will need to gently jiggle your pan that the quiche is on to make sure that it is set. It is done when the center is barely wobbly but not “liquidy.”

Once done, remove, let cool and slice carefully and serve, or place in an airtight container in the fridge overnight and follow reheating instructions for serving the following day.