Mixed Herbs, Roasted Tomato, and Brie Quiche
Brie is an unexpected and delicious addition to quiche. Here, a layer of brie goes in the bottom of this long, rectangular pastry shell, then pieces of it are placed around the tomatoes to frame them. It makes a dramatic presentation piece at any meal.
Brie is an unexpected and delicious addition to quiche. Here, a layer of brie goes in the bottom of this long, rectangular pastry shell, then pieces of it are placed around the tomatoes to frame them. It makes a dramatic presentation piece at any meal.
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 2 clove garlic
- for filling:
- for crust:
- 1 recipe basic pastry crust dough i shaped into 7x4-inch rectangle, chilled
- 3 medium-large tomatoes halved
- 3 tablespoon onion coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh oregano, thyme, parsley (each)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (scant)
- 5 ounce brie cheese (portion is approx) cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
- Carbohydrate 1.52173959621875 g
- Cholesterol 292.3590769375 mg
- Fat 14.7513584338 g
- Fiber 0.164390625178814 g
- Protein 11.8395740895313 g
- Saturated Fat 6.86892138856875 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (93g)
- Sodium 202.579343936875 mg
- Sugar 1.35734897103994 g
- Trans Fat 1.46321917222563 g
- Calories 185 calories
Step-by-step
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on wax paper to 16 1/2 x 7-inch rectangle. Invert dough into 14x4 1/2-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Fold overhang in and press, forming double-thick high-standing sides. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 30 minutes.
- Line crust with foil; fill with pie weights. Place tart pan on baking sheet and bake crust until sides begin to set, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights. Bake crust until cooked through and pale golden, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 8 minutes longer. Cool crust in pan on cooling rack. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
- Lightly oil rimmed baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes cut side up on baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast until tomatoes are soft and shrunken but still in tact, about 50 minutes. Cool.
- Place crust in tart pan on heavy large baking sheet. Arrange cheese slices 1/4-inch apart in single layer over crust. Cut remaining cheese into cubes; set aside. Finely chop onion, herbs and garlic together. Transfer herb mixture to small bowl; mix in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle half of onion-herb mixture over cheese in crust. Whisk cream, eggs, milk, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Slowly pour custard over cheese. Arrange tomato halves cut sides up in rows atop cheese. Sprinkle with remaining onion-herb mixture. Arrange reserved cheese cubes in tart corners and between tomatoes. Bake quiche until golden brown and puffed, about 35 minutes. Cool on rack 30 minutes.
- Transfer quiche to platter. Using serrated knife, cut quiche and serve warm.
Replacing traditional heavy cream with whole milk alters the custard's thermal coagulation point, producing a softer set that requires precise temperature management to avoid curdling. Quiche originated as an open-faced pastry crust filled with savory custard in the medieval French region of Alsace-Lorraine, evolving from a bread dough base lined with smoked bacon into the shortcrust pastry recognized today. Baking the pastry shell at 400 degrees Fahrenheit with pie weights ensures the butter melts and creates steam pockets before the fat can leak out, yielding a stable structure capable of holding liquid fillings without becoming soggy.
Brie cheese contains a high moisture content and high fat ratio, meaning it melts much faster than standard Gruyère or Cheddar typically used in French tarts. Slicing the cheese uniformly to one-third of an inch thick allows the pieces to insulate the bottom pastry layer while interacting predictably with the surrounding dairy liquids. Roasting the tomatoes separately on an oiled baking sheet for fifty minutes drives off excess internal water that would otherwise dilute the egg mixture and prevent proper setting during the final thirty-five minute bake.
Fresh culinary herbs like oregano, thyme, and parsley release volatile oils when chopped finely with raw garlic and mixed with olive oil. This maceration step softens the cellular walls of the herbs, distributing flavor compounds evenly across the custard matrix rather than leaving concentrated pockets of vegetation. Heavy cream provides enough milk fat solids to encapsulate these aromatics, stabilizing the emulsion as the protein structures in the two large eggs firm up inside the oven.
Allowing the baked tart to rest on a wire rack for thirty minutes permits the internal starches and dairy proteins to complete their gelatinization phase. Slicing the rectangular pastry with a serrated knife prevents the delicate layers of the double-thick crust from compressing or shattering under pressure. Leftovers maintain structural integrity when stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two days, though the crust texture degrades past forty-eight hours due to moisture migration from the tomatoes.
