Miso Caramel Shitake & Ricotta Salata Quiche
January has been a long and busy month. I am not going to lie, I might have had more takeaways than I'd like to admit.
February is going to be equally long but, I am hoping I can carve out some more time to spend in the kitchen doing what I love and share more recipes with you.
This unexpected quiche was a bit of an experiment that went surprisingly well! Ottolenghi’s latest book has a beautiful mushroom ketchup recipe that starts with a base of direct caramel and soy sauce. I coated my mushrooms in caramel and miso in the same way and used them as the base to my quiche. The saltiness of the ricotta salata balances out the sweetness of the caramel really well. All this goodness is enclosed in a flaky pastry tart shell.
Sunshine
Ingredients
Pastry
2g salt
150g butter
75ml water
230g Plain flour
Mushrooms
150g fresh shitake
20g dried porcini
2tbsp white miso
30g caster sugar
80g of porcini water
1 tbsp of soy
Quiche Filling
150 ml creme fraiche
150 ml milk
5 eggs
40g of flour
70g ricotta salata + handful to scatter on top
Salt
Spring onions to decorate
I used a 20” deep pie dish
Step by Step
For the crust
Cube the butter and chill it in the fridge for 30min
Chill the water before you use it. The colder it is the better your pastry will turn out
If you are using the stand mixer, mix the flour, sugar, salt and butter. If you are doing it by hand rub the butter in the flour and salt
Add in the water in your stand mixer and mix. It will come together very quickly. The same applies if you are doing it by hand
Shape the pastry as a disc and chill it for 2 hours
Grease an 8 inches deep tin with butter. Roll our your pastry and line your tart tin and chill it in the fridge for 30min
Preheat the oven at 180C. Cover you pastry tin with parchment paper and add baking beans (or rice if you don’t have baking beans). Blind bake your tart for a total of 30min. In the final 10min bake it without the baking bean so the bottom of your crust will be nice and golden. If after 30mins the pastry is still pale keep it slightly longer
Whisk an egg and brush the bottom of your pastry. Put it back in the oven for 5min. This will coat the base of the tart and will prevent sogginess
For the Filling
Soak the dry porcini in boiling water for 20min
Add the sugar in a non stick pan and heat it up. It will slowly turn into caramel. Try not to use a spoon but just move the pan over the heat so that the newly formed caramel spreads and covers the sugar. In a few minutes you should have a pan of caramel only. Turn the heat down as you want to avoid burning it
Add the miso and soy sauce in the caramel and mix well. It won’t look perfect but it will combine once you add the mushrooms
Set aside some of the porcini water. Now drain the porcini and add them in the pan and cook them for a few minutes. If the mix is too dry add in 1 tbsp of the procini water
Add in the roughly chopped shiitake and cook for a few minutes
Make sure you cook the mushrooms until all their water has evaporated. If you miss this step the risk is that your mushrooms will lose the excess water once they are in the quiche
In a separate bowl, whisk you eggs to combine them and add in your creme fraiche and milk. Mix until well combined
Time to fold in your flour and add the ricotta salata in the mix
Season with a tiny bit of salt (not too much because you have the ricotta already!)
Assembling & Baking
Add the mushrooms at the bottom of your quiche shell
Pour your egg & cream mixture on top and scatter a handful of ricotta salata on top
Bake in a preheated oven at @190 C for 40-50min
The quiche is ready when only the centre of the surface is slightly wobbly and you can touch it with your finger without it sinking
Let it cool down for at least a couple of hours and top with chopped spring onions before serving
Tips & Cheats
Secrets for the perfect crust:
Handle your dough as little as possible.
Always take time to chill the water and the butter.
Rest the dough in the fridge after you’ve made it and again after you’ve rolled it out and lined your tin.
If you are blind baking the crust, once it’s cooked and before you add the filling whisk an egg and brush the bottom of your pastry. Put it back in the oven for 5min. This will coat the base of the tart.
If you are baking the the tart straight with the filling, add a couple of tablespoons of cornflour between the base and the filling. The cornflour will absorb any excess liquid, leaving the bottom of your tart crunchy.
Preheat your oven with a heavy tray inside. Place your tin directly on the heavy tray. The heavy tray will conduct the heat evenly.
