Plant with a strong and sulfurated taste – as in riche in notes of sulfide, mustard-like -, cress will go very well, fresh or fried, as a side to a piece of red meat. On the other hand, it will also be very good in a quiche, along with some more salty and sweet notes to bring out the best of it. This is what this original recipe offers, via an uncommon marriage with cress, beet, crottin and some walnuts. Such an union is tasty and full of flavors, blending herbaceous and sulfurated notes with sweet and earthy ones, salty from the cheese, as well as a more subtle woody note.

Prep time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 10 + 40 minutes

Ingredients :

For the crust :
– 1 premade shortcrust pastry
or
– 300g flour
– 150g butter
– 1 pinch salt
– 1/2 (French) glass lukewarm water (about 8cl)

For the garnish :
– 2 bunches cress
– a nice beet
– 2 crottin goat cheeses
– 1 handful walnut kernels
– 3 eggs
– 20cl crème fraîche
– some pepper
– some salt

Preparing the cress
Start by cleaning the cress: without removing the rubber band from the bunch, immerse the leaves in a mix of water and white or cider vinegar. Let it rest 5 to 10 minutes in the liquide, the rince and gently rub the leaves under the water to remove all dirt. Then, cut off just above the rubber band and throw away the stalks. Put the leaves in a colander and wash some more, and cut off the thickest remaining stalks. Once the leaves are clean, coarsely chop them. Put a marmite on the fire, and quickly add 20 to 30g of butter. Let the butter foam and, as it starts to wane, add the cress in one go. Salt, pepper, and let it reduce over medium heat for a bit more than 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Preparing the crust and the garnish
Start heating the oven at 160ºC (thermostat 5/6), and make the shortcrust pastry if needed – see my shortcrust pastry recipe. Once this is done, spread the pastry in the pie plate, and prick it with a fork. Skin the beet and slice it rather thinly, put it aside. If you have whole walnuts, cut them coarsely, and fry them if you’d want to accentuate their taste – just be careful not to burn them.

Once the cress is ready, spread it on the pastry. Above it, put the beet pieces and the walnut kernels, then crumble one of the two crottins. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the crème fraîche, salt and pepper. Whisk the mix a little more, then pour the mix on the previously placed ingredients. Finally, crumble the last crottin on top of it.

Put in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the quiche displays a nice light brownish color, and the crust start showing some colors. As for any quiche, it is a good idea to serve it with a side of fresh lettuce and some home-made vinaigrette (why not mix crème fraîche, lemon and mustard, for example ?). Bon appétit !

Also published on Medium.

This post is also available in: French