Salmon and watercress quiche
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Photograph by Dan Jones / The Higgidy Cookbook by Camilla Stephens is published by Quercus at £16.99
Salmon and watercress quiche
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
532Kcal
Fat
41gr
Saturates
22gr
Carbs
24gr
Sugars
2gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
17gr
Salt
0.4gr
Camilla Stephens
Camilla Stephens co-founded Higgidy in 2003 with the desire to share her home-cooked pies with everybody. In 2013, Camilla wrote the Higgidy Cookbook sharing over 100 easy recipes for pies, quiches, tarts and puddings.
See more of Camilla Stephens’s recipes
Camilla Stephens
Camilla Stephens co-founded Higgidy in 2003 with the desire to share her home-cooked pies with everybody. In 2013, Camilla wrote the Higgidy Cookbook sharing over 100 easy recipes for pies, quiches, tarts and puddings.
See more of Camilla Stephens’s recipes
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 200g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting
- 100g chilled butter, cut into small cubes
- 30g Parmesan (optional), finely grated
- 1 medium egg yolk, beaten
For the filling
- 350g (about 3) salmon fillets
- juice of ½ lemon
- a generous knob of unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, finely sliced
- 200g new potatoes, ideally Jersey Royals, cut into 1.5cm chunks and parboiled
- 50g watercress (any tough stalks discarded), finely chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped dill
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 x 300ml carton double cream
- ½ tsp pink peppercorns or mixed peppercorns, lightly crushed
Step by step
Get ahead
Make up to a day ahead, once cooled, store covered in the fridge.
- First, make the shortcrust pastry. Put the flour, butter and Parmesan into a food processor with a pinch of salt. Whiz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Beat the egg yolk with 3 tablespoons ice-cold water and add. Pulse until the mixture just comes together to form a dough, adding a little more water if you think it's needed. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes before using.
- Lightly grease a loose-bottomed fluted rectangular tart tin about 30cm x 20cm. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick and line your tart tin with it, making sure the edge of the pastry stands just a little proud above the rim. Trim the edges to neaten, then prick the base all over with a fork and return it to the fridge for a further 30 minutes. Don't be tempted to skip this step – it helps prevent any shrinkage in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6, and put in a baking sheet to heat up. Tear off a sheet of foil big enough to enclose all your salmon fillets and lay it on a work surface. Put the salmon in the middle, add the lemon juice, season and scrunch to seal tightly. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.
- Take the pastry case out of the fridge, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Place in the oven on the hot baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the paper and beans, and return the case to the oven for a further 5-6 minutes. This will allow the pastry base to dry out before you pile in the filling.
- Reduce the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and let it soften for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then spoon evenly into the pastry case. Thickly flake the salmon (discarding the skin) and scatter it over the onions along with the parboiled potatoes and most of the chopped watercress and dill.
- Whisk together the eggs and cream, season well with salt and pour into the pastry case. Scatter with the remaining watercress, dill and the peppercorns. Place on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the filling has just set and the top is turning golden.
