La Tarte au Thon (Tuna Quiche)

When in France, I eat quiche daily.

The crusts are always perfect, buttery and flaky. The fillings are high (no flat quiches here), filled with eggs, creme fraiche and everything I love.

I thought about it the other day, why is it that here in the US no one eats TUNA quiche?
I see it offered at every patisserie/boulangerie and on many cafe menus in Paris. I ALWAYS order it. It's my favorite.

They also offer smoked salmon quiche, which is my second choice. It is so good, you don't know what you are missing.

The French are obsessed with canned tuna (Salade Nicoise) and smoked salmon for some reason. Avocat (avocado) is also on every lunch menu, and they have to import them from Peru.

Look up French Tuna Quiche, and notice all the French websites with recipes.

I have translated a French recipe for you to English, and it's fantastic. My perfect lunch with a salad.

I used a few of Domenica's oven dried tomatoes, but you can use roasted red peppers or sundried if you haven't made them yet.

Make your own crust or use store bought. Puff pastry is also a good choice.
And a teaspoon of piment d'espelette a Basque hot pepper, is all you need to make this as authentic as the French version.

Try it, you will love it.

La Tarte au Thon (Tuna Quiche!!):

9" pie crust of your choice
2 cans of good quality chunk light tuna in oil (save the white albacore for sandwiches), drained
3 oven dried tomatoes, chopped (roasted red peppers or sundried tomatoes are fine)
3/4 cup of Swiss or Gruyere cheese, grated
4 eggs
1 tsp piment d'espelette (or pimenton, smoked paprika)
1 cup creme fraiche (I used a 7 oz. container)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
pinch of thyme or chopped chives
salt & black pepper

I buy frozen pie shells by Oronoque Orchards....I like them the best, though there are some preservatives in them. They are not for sweet pies, but perfect for quiches, my mom always kept them in the freezer.

Brush the bottom of the pie shell with the mustard.

Mix all the other ingredients together and pour into the pie shell.

Bake in a 350F oven for 35-40 minutes until golden.

Now I don't need to wait till September in Paris to eat this again.

:)