Leek, Potato and Salmon Quiche

I am a BIG fan of quiches, and casseroles (possibly cause I grew up in the south), but mostly quiches. I love quiches cause you can make them ahead, they’re great as leftovers, they require minimal intervention and they help me get rid of stuff that’s been hanging around in the fridge too long. So the other day I happen upon a package of smoked salmon that was expiring that very day and well, with the husband’s immune system the way it is I can’t really risk feeding him food that is on its way to possibly being a bit wonky, and smoked salmon isn’t exactly cheap here so… into a quiche it went.

This is what you need:

Puff pastry sheet – in Italy I use the ready-made, refrigerated not frozen, Buitoni pasta sfoglia rotonda. It’s a round sheet of puff pastry approximately 25cm (10in.) in diameter. Use whatever you like, frozen is fine too (defrost it!) or you can make this in the form of a casserole, foregoing the puff pastry and just using a casserole dish.

Smoked salmon – I’m very sorry, but I forgot to check how much is in a package, but it’s not an insane amount – will correct this as soon as I go back to supermarket!

2 medium-sized leeks – with most of the green part cut off.

3 medium- sized potatoes - peeled

½ cup Feta cheese - crumbled                                        

Ricotta 250 gr (8.8oz)

Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

2 eggs

Salt, pepper and ground nutmeg (optional)

I used a 22cm (8.5inch) round spring-form pan, but you can use a pie dish as well.

This is what you do:

Finely cut the leeks cross-wise and sauté in a pan with a little oil till just softened and set aside.

Cut your salmon in mid to small sized pieces

Pasta alla Checca

The Husband always knows when I decide that summer is just around the corner because for starters I start painting my toes and wearing sandals, but mainly because we start eating Pasta alla Checca at least three times a week. It is literally my favorite pasta in the world, it’s easy to make, it’s fast, and if the ingredients are good quality then the dish is to die for. There are many variants of this pasta, all of which are good, I’m going to share my favorite, and then you can take it from there and create your perfect version of Pasta alla Checca, because it’s one of those summer comfort foods that has to fit like your favorite pair of Manolo’s, the ones that you can walk for miles in they’re so comfortable, and yet you still look amazing.

What you need:

Well, pasta of course. I’m partial to De Cecco, which is a high quality Italian brand that you can find pretty easily in most big cities worldwide, but your favorite brand will work perfectly too! You need “short” pasta for this dish, so no spaghetti or other long pastas. I like to use fusilli (corkscrew shaped pasta), but my Mom prefers farfalle (bow shaped pasta), if you experiment a little you’ll find the perfect pasta shape for you, the one that absorbs the right amount of sauce, and that allows you to spear all the main ingredients so you can make the “perfect mouthful”.

Tomatoes, which is why I only make it in the summer, with those lovely straight from the plant tomatoes in my vegetable garden.

Fresh Mozzarella, ideally buffalo mozzarella, but regular mozzarella is fine too as long as it’s fresh. I realize this is trickier for people outside of Italy cause it’s hard to find and expensive when you do, but it really, really needs to be fresh. So do NOT, under any circumstances, substitute with other types of mozzarella (mozzarella cheese sticks are totally NOT ok) I really can’t stress this enough. If you can’t find fresh mozzarella you’re going to have to go without cheese in the dish (it’s still very, very good) and if you really can’t give up the cheese entirely then substitute with something completely different, like Feta cheese. (If my Mom actually read my blog she would have keeled over from a heart attack after that suggestion.)

Basil, just a few fresh leaves, if you can, it makes the dish positively heavenly.

Salt and oil.