Crab, tomato and saffron quiche

Name: Crab, tomato and saffron quiche
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6-8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 170g plain flour; ½ tbsp sugar; ½ tsp salt; 130g cold butter, diced small; 60-80ml ice-cold water; 1 egg yolk

Danielle Alvarez

May 4, 2023

This elegant quiche is fit for a king.William Meppem

Time:1-2 hoursServes:6-8

This elegant quiche is perfect for a celebratory picnic in the park. The tomato and saffron work together to heighten the flavour of the crab, while the cheese lends that beautiful browned top as well as a salty umami kick. Picked green crabmeat, which is now readily available*, makes the filling a cinch to bring together quickly.

Use a 23cm, loose-base fluted quiche tin for this, which is slightly deeper than a regular fluted tart tin.

Ingredients

For the pastry

170g plain flour
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
130g cold butter, diced small
60-80ml ice-cold water
1 egg yolk

For the filling

3 Roma tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ brown onion, diced (or half a small onion)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
200ml pure cream
good pinch of saffron
100g creme fraiche
2 extra large eggs
½ tsp fine sea salt
black pepper
250g green crabmeat
80g grated vintage cheddar

Method

Step 1
Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until some pieces are the size of peas and others the size of breadcrumbs. Add 60ml of cold water and pulse some more until it comes together. Add a little more water if needed.
Step 2
Remove from the food processor and knead. Press into a flat disk, wrap in baking paper or wax cloth and leave in the fridge for at least one hour but up to 48 hours. You can also freeze the dough and defrost it in the fridge overnight before using.
Step 3
Preheat your oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Roll out the dough on a well-floured bench until it’s about 2-3mm thick. Place in the quiche tin and put that on a flat sheet tray. Press the dough into the sides and base of the tin and leave the excess hanging over the edges, reserving a small piece of dough for patching up any holes (if you forget to do this, simply mix 1 tablespoon of flour with a teaspoon of water, mix and use that instead). Place a sheet of baking paper on top of the dough bed and fill it completely with pie weights, dried beans or dried rice. Bake for 40 minutes.
Step 4
After 40 minutes, carefully lift the pie weights out of the tart and inspect the shell. If any holes or cracks have appeared, patch to seal the shell. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes until the base is golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the interior with the egg yolk and bake for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then use a vegetable peeler to
delicately shave the excess dough from the edge of the tin.
Step 5
Fill a kettle with water and bring it to the boil. Cut an “X” in the base of each tomato and place them in a bowl. Pour boiling water over them and leave for 20-30 seconds. Spoon them out of the water into another bowl. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel the skin off, cut out the cores, split them in half and remove the seeds. Cut into slices.
Step 6
Set a small saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil, tomatoes and onion and cook with a small pinch of salt until softened (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic and continue cooking until the tomato mixture looks like a dry paste. Spoon this out into a medium mixing bowl and allow to cool.
Step 7
In the same saute pan, add the cream and a pinch of saffron and heat over low heat until steaming, then turn the heat off.
Step 8
To the mixing bowl containing the tomatoes, add the creme fraiche, eggs, salt and a few cracks of black pepper along with the warm cream. Whisk to combine.
Step 9
Spoon the crab meat into the prepared tart shell. Ladle half the custard mix over the crab. Place in the oven on a tray, removing any racks which may be above it. Carefully pour in the remaining custard mix and sprinkle the cheese over the top. (If you’re using a shallow tin, you might need to hold back some of the custard mix.)
Step 10
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is browned. The custard mix will still be wobbly, but it will have set. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving. Best served warm.