Salmon & Leek Tart, Quiche or Casserole

Chinook Salmon

Chinook Salmon

By Cat, Jan 2008 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

You can use cold-smoked salmon (such as lox), or fresh, wild salmon. You can make it crustless as a casserole, or with a single crust like a Quiche or rustic tart.

Salmon & Leek Tart, Quiche or Casserole

This recipe is adapted from Delicious Living magazine (1), as a baked egg casserole.  However, I prefer to make it as a tart or quiche.  You can use a regular pie crust recipe, or the crust from the Quiche Lorraine recipe; or make it crustless in a casserole or soufflé dish, as in the original recipe.

Shitake mushrooms are called for in the original recipe, but these may not be available to you.  Rather than substituting a different mushroom, reconstitute dried shiitake, or skip them altogether, and use the larger amount of salmon.  If using mushrooms, use the lesser amount of salmon.

For the goat cheese, I recommend a soft goat cheese such as Montchevre, but a mild feta could also be used; ricotta or cottage cheese could be used in a pinch.

The recipe uses smoked salmon, but doesn’t specify whether “hot” or “cold” smoked. I recommend cold-smoked (such as lox) rather than hot-smoked (such as kippered salmon) for this recipe. The latter has just too strong a flavor and would overpower the delicate flavor of the leeks. Or use fresh salmon and partially cook it enough that it will flake, before adding to the tart/casserole.

This recipe serves 6.  If making as a casserole, you can double the recipe and use a 3 ½ or 4 quart casserole dish. I also include a smaller version that serves 2, made in a 7.5″ pie pan.

Ingredients & Equipment:

  • 1 pie crust for 10″ quiche , pre-baked (optional)
  • 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil (plus more to coat pan if not using a crust)
  • 1 cup julienned leeks, white and light green parts only (1 – 2 leeks)
  • 2 oz fresh shitake mushrooms, or reconstituted dried shiitake (optional)
  • 3 – 4 oz paper thin cold-smoked salmon, cut into ¼ inch-wide strips (or up to 6 oz if not using the shitake)
  • 3 large or 4 small farm-fresh, free-range eggs
  • 1 ½ cups whole milk
  • 1 tsp finely chopped fresh dill (or ½ tsp dried dill weed)
  • Unrefined sea salt and fresh black pepper, to taste.
  • 2 – 3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
  • fresh dill sprigs for garnish
  • Equipment:
  • 10″ quiche pan, or 2 quart casserole or soufflé dish.
  • cast iron skillet
  • egg whisk

Ingredients for 7.5″ ceramic pie pan

  • pastry for 7.5″ pie pan (optional)
  • 2 tsp olive oil (plus more to coat pan if not using a crust)
  • ½ cup julienned leeks, white and light green parts only (1 leek)
  • 1 oz fresh shitake mushrooms or reconstituted dried shiitake (optional)
  • about 2 oz paper-thin cold-smoked salmon, cut into ¼ inch-wide strips (or up to 4 oz if not using the shiitake)
  • 1 large or 2 small farm-fresh, free-range eggs, plus ½ yolk
  • ½ – ¾ cups whole milk or cream, or a milk/cream mix
  • ½ tsp finely chopped fresh dill (or ¼ tsp dried dill weed)
  • Unrefined sea salt and fresh black pepper, to taste.
  • 1 – 1 ½ oz goat cheese (such as Montrachet), crumbled
  • fresh dill sprigs for garnish (optional)
  • Equipment:
  • 8″ quiche pan, or 7.5″ ceramic pie pan, or small casserole or soufflé dish.
  • cast iron skillet
  • egg whisk

Method:

  1. Prepare crust, shape in quiche pan, and pre-bake.  Or if making without a crust, lightly oil bottom and sides of casserole/baking dish with ½ Tbsp olive oil.
  2. Prep: Wash leeks, cut off the darker green part, then cut the white and light green parts lengthwise into thin julienne.
  3. Wash optional mushrooms and slice into ¼ inch-wide strips.
  4. If using paper-thin lox, cut into ¼ inch-wide strips; if using fresh salmon, pre-cook enough that it can be separated into flakes (it should still be rare in the thickest part).
  5. Filling: Preheat oven to 3750 F.
  6. Heat 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add leeks and saute until softened, about 8 minutes. Add mushrooms (if using) and saute 5 minutes more.  Spread mixture over bottom of crust or oiled casserole dish.  Evenly distribute smoked salmon slices on top. Crumble goat cheese over lox.
  7. Whisk eggs in a large bowl; whisk in milk and dill, and season with salt and pepper.  Stir in cheese and pour mixture over salmon and veggies.
  8. Bake until a knife inserted in center of the filing comes out clean, 20 – 30 minutes (quiche) or 30 – 35 minutes (casserole).

Assembly or Serving Suggestions

  • Sprinkle with fresh dill and serve in wedges.
  • Serve with baked yams (or sweet potatoes)

Testing:

4/5/15: Made French Quiche Crust for 8″ Pyrex pie pan and pre-baked per recipe. Followed ingredients for 7.5″ or 8″ quiche, using 4 oz lox, leeks (sliced crosswise rather than lengthwise, and homemade goat cheese, and dried dill weed. Used ¾ cup milk/cream mix (roughly half of each), and 2 medium eggs plus the white from the egg used for the crust. Not quite done after 20 minutes in oven so baked another 10 minutes (30 min total). Result: This was delicious! I’d had some trouble mixing the crust (too dry), but it turned out pretty good, a bit flakey.

1/22/18: Made without crust (I’m avoiding grains), so oiled bottom of pie pan. Made as written for 7.5″ ceramic pie pan, but without shiitake as before. Used 3 oz lox (from wild salmon), ½ cup sliced leek, 1½ oz Montchevre goat cheese, ¼ tsp dried dill weed, ¾ cup milk/cream mix, 1 jumbo egg plus ½ medium egg (saved other half for other use). Otherwise as written. Baked at 375°F for 35 min. Result: Perhaps I cooked it too long – quite a bit of liquid separated to the bottom. But it tasted good.

References:

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