Carrot and Chantarelle Quiche

Decisions, decisions.

A week or two ago I was staring at a pile of yellow chantarelle mushrooms and a bunch of young orange carrots in my fridge, trying to decide which one should become the centrepiece of our dinner table. Earthy wild mushrooms or succulent sweet carrots? Which one to take, and which one to leave? I couldn't choose (which one would you have chosen?), and combined them both in a quiche instead. The resulting carrot and chantarelle quiche could be my favourite wild mushroom tart of all times.

Here's the recipe. Do try it, if you have a chance.

Carrot and Chantarelle Quiche
(Porgandi-kukeseenepirukas)
Serves 6 to 8



Pastry:
175 g plain/all-purpose flour
0.25 tsp salt
100 g cold butter, cut into cubes
1 egg

Filling:
200 g carrots
300 g fresh chantarelle mushrooms
1 Tbsp butter
about 100 ml /half a cup/ of finely chopped fresh parsley
2 large eggs
200 ml single cream
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine flour and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse 8-10 times, until mixture is crumbly. Add the egg, pulse again until the mixture begins to come together. Press the mixture into a dough ball, flatten it into a disk. Using your fingers, press the dough to the bottom and sides of a 24 cm pie dish (alternatively, roll out on a lightly floured surface and line the pie form with the pastry.
Place to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Pierce the pastry base with fork, then blind bake in a pre-heated 200 C oven for 10-15 minutes, until the base looks dry.

To make the filling, grate the carrots coarsely. Rinse the mushrooms quickly, if necessary, and drain very thoroughly. If the mushrooms are large, then cut them into smaller pieces.
Heat butter on a saucepan, add mushrooms and carrots. Season with a bit of salt and then sauté on a low heat for 5-7 minutes, until the carrots begin to soften. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the parsley.
Whisk eggs with cream, season with a bit of salt and with some black pepper.

Scatter the mushroom and carrot mixture on the pre-baked pastry case, then pour over the egg and cream mixture.
Cook for another 25-30 minutes, until the filling is set and the pie is light golden brown on top.