Quiche à la tomate, niçoise

Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One

I’ve made a few quiches before… mostly the classic quiche lorraine and Alsatian onion tart. But this quiche recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking caught my attention. It’s a tomato quiche with Niçoise flavourings of anchovies and olives.

The recipe calls for a surprising amount of tomatoes: 1¾ to 2 lbs, or about 4-6 small/medium tomatoes. Because of this, the amount of egg in the quiche is reduced. And since the recipe doesn’t use any cream either, we have a surprisingly light, refreshing take on quiche. There’s a bit of prep work with the tomatoes to peel and seed them, but it’s easy work, and ensures the quiche filling keeps a smooth texture. The tomatoes are cooked to remove as much moisture as possible so you don’t get a soggy quiche.

The flavour of the tomatoes (further reinforced with tomato paste), anchovies and olives all meld together in the quiche. Rather than tasting these individual flavours, it’s like a new flavour is made. It has the taste of the sea from the anchovies without tasting outright like anchovies or even fish.

Absolutely delicious… definitely one to make again!