Rachel's Recipes: Fresh Herb & Goat’s Cheese Tart with “good oil” pastry

Yes I know I have a thing about all things goaty (not to be confused with goatee) but really this is a brilliant combination and not just another excuse to eat goat’s cheese! With so many beautiful fresh herbs in the market in Spring I constantly think of ways to capture their fresh subtle tastes and the savory custard that is a quiche or savory tart filling absorbs and amplifies flavors wonderfully. For those of you with a pastry phobia fear not! The “method” is merely to mix all ingredients together until a pliable soft dough is formed. And unlike butter based pastries you don’t need to worry about resting the pastry and then chilling the case before cooking to prevent shrinkage. This pastry really is a boon for busy health conscious cooks! The pastry uses only “good oils”, some wholemeal flour and semolina (‘gris”) to give crunch. Yes you do need to bake the pastry first to avoid a soggy bottomed tart (perish the thought) but thereafter you just sling in the ingredients and let it cook until firm while you test the rosé that goes so brilliantly with the tart and a salad of butter lettuce, radishes, spring onions and fresh herb leaves with a tahini dressing. This recipe makes a deep quiche (I have rings I bought at Mora in Paris that produce the traditional deep rustic French quiche, which I am very attached to…and so I should be as I almost needed a mortgage to buy them) so if you find yourself with a little extra, just oil generously a muffin tin and make small “no pastry” snacks…in fact this recipe works well as do most quiche fillings without the pastry in well oiled baking molds. Gadgets & Gizmos I personally always prefer loose bottomed metal quiche tins but if you have a ceramic quiche dish that is fine too…anyhow without being pedantic a good tin for savory and sweet tarts is a good thing to use. Failing this, a small brownie tin might just work but your pastry might collapse in on itself as the sides are relatively high. This recipe is for a 22cm tin 4.5 cm deep – most quiche tins and dishes are not so deep - which is why I suggested what to do with any leftover filling mix! Ingredients – serves six to eight and freezes cut into portions very well The greenery is for guidance – the joy of this type of recipe is using what you find in the market. The Filling 1 small bunch of “leustean” (lovage). This is a very aromatic herb so is usually used sparingly, however I like how it is with the zingy cheese. 6-8 leaves of “Stevie” or large proper spinach not baby spinach. Probably a whole packet of baby spinach could be used but that kind of defeats the object of using what's fresh in the market 1 bunch of parsley roughly chopped 3-4 spring onions roughly chopped