Quand on a des restes de pâte – Mini quiches aux courgettes, olives, feta et menthe, pâte brisée complète aux herbes de Provence


I made a large quiche just like those mini ones for a dinner party, and I had leftover dough…which I did not want to throw away. Why throw away food that you enjoyed making and put time into it?  I love to play with crusts, quiches and tarts, after all, they’re the basics of French cuisine. For savory tarts, I love to use olive oil instead of butter in the crust, and make it wholesome. Olive oil adds a wonderful flavor to crusts and cakes and make them lighter. Of course traditional French cuisine uses more butter, but this blog is not about traditional French food.

I love the combination of zucchini, feta and mint, they pair so well in almost anything such as in savory cakes, flans, couscous, etc…The crust and its herbes de Provence flavor, gives you a kick of Southern French cuisine, with all its aromas, and fragrant scents. Yes indeed, these quiches will bring some warmth and will brighten your day, as Southern French food does, it’s filled with flavors, colors and freshness…so isn’t this a bit of happiness too?

I am one of those crazy people that get affected by the weather, and a bright day with natural light gives me so much happiness. If I could chose the perfect weather it would be a sunny day with 80F temperature, with a light breeze. If anyone of you live in that particular climate, please let me know and I will just move there! (no humidity please). There is a French expression that most old people would respond to when asked, comment allez-vous? “How are you doing?” most of them respond, oh comme le temps!, meaning “like the weather”, which really can show you how much the French are truly “doing” like the weather! so if it’s raining, you can just imagine how they’re doing! Ask no more…

Ingredients for 4 mini quiches

For the crust

  • 4.4 oz (or 125 g) wholewheat flour
  • 1.69 fl oz (or 50 ml) olive oil
  • 1 tsp herbes de Provence
  • water
  • a pinch of salt

For the filling

  • 2 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
  • 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced with a mandoline
  • 2 tbs feta, crumbled
  • 1 tbs mint, chiffonade
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tbs heavy cream
  • 4 tbs milk
  • cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

Place flour in a mixing bowl, then add herbes de Provence, salt, oil, and start mixing, add water gradually enough to make the dough elastic and not crumbly. Mix well to form a ball. Wrap in a plastic film and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Divide dough in four parts and using a rolling pin, roll into 4 round sheets. Lay flat inside four tart molds.

For the filling

Place sliced zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle with coarse salt, mix well to coat. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water, squeeze extra water using your hands and pat dry using a paper towel. Cut roughly.

Place olives on top of crust. Mix zucchini, feta and mint and put mixture on top of olives.

Beat eggs with cream and milk, a little salt (not too much since the feta is salty and the zucchini have absorbed some salt too), and cayenne pepper. Pour on top of zucchini mixture.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the crust is cooked on the bottom.