Smoked Ham, Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Quiche

I catered a job this past weekend to a french wine tasting and must have used 5 lbs of butter for all the hors' dourves. Ended up with just enough buttery pastry dough to make a quiche for the family. I'm not a huge cheese fan, but can handle some of the lighter stuff. Scary childhood event, don't ask :0)! I do love fresh mozzarella and some of the shredding stuff, like parmeggiano or something like it. Couldn't do cheddar or gruyere, so made a quiche with fresh mozzarella and it was sooooooo good!

Ingredients:
Buttery pastry:
2 sticks of salted butter (1 cup), cold and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold water
3 egg yolks

Filling:
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh pepper
1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup smoked ham, diced

In the bowl of a food processor pulse together flour and salt until combined. Add egg yolks and butter and pulse. Add cold water and pulse until mixture crumbles. Pour into countertop and form into a ball. Wrap with plastic film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out pastry on lightly floured surface. Transfer to a tart pan, pressing the bottom and sides.
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a whisk bowl mix together eggs and cream. Add salt , pepper and nutmeg and mix it well. Add ham and mozzarella and combine.
Lay tomato slices on top of crust. Pour egg mixture on top. Bake on top of a cookie sheet to prevent spillage for about 35-40 minutes. It should puff up a bit. Remove from oven and let it rest 10 minutes before slicing it.

Quiche Lorraine (Crispy bacon and gruyere instead of ham and fresh mozzarella)

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Seafood Penne

My love with shellfish hasn't started until recently. About 20 years ago in NYC, first time i tried shrimp after living in Brasil for 17 years and never liking it. It was like a dream. I couldn't believe how much i enjoyed it. After that came crabs, oysters, lobsters... It was like heaven. I was also just starting to appreciate food in all levels, and getting to understand wines.

This morning was gorgeous. the thermometer reached 75F and i ran 7 miles. Got home craving a pasta dish, since my body needed the carbs and seafood seemed like the perfect combination on a indian summer day. So i decided on a seafood pasta. So easy and quick to make. If your shrimp is already peeled and deveined, the whole dish might take about 17 minutes to make. So here's how i do it!

Ingredients:

1 pound penne pasta, cooked according to package instructions

4 tablespoons olive oil

10 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced( use less if not a huge garlic fan like me)

1 pound 26-30 shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 pound sea scallops(i used frozen and had it thawed in cold water in 5 minutes)

1 jar or can of clams with juice

2 lemons, 1 halved and 1 thinly sliced

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped basil

2 cups arugula

salt and pepper to taste

In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and garlic, until garlic is golden. Add shrimp and scallops and cook stirring frequently for about 2 minutes. You don't wan to overcook the shellfish. Add clams with juice. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Squeeze halved lemons and add lemon slices to frying pan. Add halved tomatoes, arugula, basil and parsley and toss with cooked pasta. Serve warm.