Thursday, 1 January 1970

John Travolta's Crab Quiche

The Pulp Fiction star reveals the perfect dish to serve up for a little Saturday Night Fever

John sports some dubious looking facial hair while watching his friend, Michael Eisner, receive a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

Ingredients

For the pie crust
115g/4oz butter, chilled
3tbsp margarine
225g/8oz plain flour
½tsp salt
5-6tbsp cold water

For the custard
350ml/12fl oz full cream
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
Salt & pepper, to taste

For the filling
450g/1lb crabmeat (fresh not frozen)
175-225g/6-8oz Cheddar cheese
275-350g/10-12oz Gruyere cheese, grated
2tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
2tbsp chopped fresh basil
1tbsp chopped fresh chervil

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4.
2 For the pie crust, put the chilled butter and margarine in a food mixer with the flour and salt. Mix on medium speed until blended (34 mins). Then add the water and blend until the dough comes together (turn off the mixer). This should only take about 10 seconds. Do not overmix! Remove from the machine and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.
3 For the custard, mix together all the ingredients. Set aside.
4 To assemble, roll out the dough to about 0.5cm/¼in thick. Line the bottom of a 23cm/9in pie dish. Sprinkle half of each of the cheeses on the bottom. Add the crab meat. Sprinkle over the herbs. Sprinkle over the rest of the cheese.
5 Pour the custard over all the ingredients almost to the top of the dish. Cook for 1 hour 15 mins. Allow to stand for 30 mins before serving.
Bon appetit!

Recipe from The You Are What You Are Cookbook (£7.99, Accent Press). All profits from this book go to support Beds Garden Carers – a charity for adults with learning disabilities. For more info, visit www.bedsgardencarers.org.uk or call 01234 32887.