Spinach and salmon tarte

This aromatic savory tarte is filled with fresh and smoked salmon which has one of the most distinctive tastes in the seafood cuisine. The tarte gives you a good balance of eggs and spinach. I would propose white wine like Chablis (Burgundy) or Hermitage (Rhone Valley). 

Smoked salmon is considered as a treat due to its high price. It has been described by Umberto Eco,Italian philosopher and writer in "How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays",  collection of articles written for an Italian newspaper. The author has described the absurdity of the modern life giving us instruction how to use cell phones, taxis in some countries, 33-function watch, wheeled luggage, how to eat meals on airplanes, take intelligent vacations or even how to travel with a salmon. It is a delightful and comical lecture which makes laugh out loud the most grumpy human being. 
"I bought a smoked salmon, an enormous one, dirt cheap. It was carefully packaged in plastic, but I was told that, if I was traveling, I would be well advised to keep it refrigerated [...]. As a rule, in normal hotels, the minibar is small refrigerator containing two beers, some miniature bottles of hard liquor, a few cans of fruit juice, and two packages of peanuts. In my hotel, the refrigerator was family size and contained fifty bottles of whisky, gin, Drambuie, Courvoisier, eight large Perriers, two Vitelloises, and two Evians, three half-bottles of champagne, various cans of Guinness, pale ale, Dutch beer, German beer, bottles of white wine both French and Italian, and, besides peanuts, also  cocktail crackers, almonds, chocolates, and Alka-Seltzer. There was no room for the salmon." 

Umberto Eco, "How to Travel with the Salmon & Other Essays"
Total Time: 1 h 30 min
Prep:          30 min
Baking:       1 h
Yield:          4 - 6 servings
Level:          Easy medium

Ingredients:
Tarte crust
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4  cup cold butter
  • 1/3 cup cold water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Filling
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cup chopped spinach ( or 1 package of frozen spinach)
  • 2 shallots or 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 pound salmon
  • 1 lemon or 1 cup  white wine 
  • 2 oz smoked salmon cut into strips or scraps
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup finely shredded Gruyère
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
Directions:

Crust: 
  1.  To make the crust, mix flour and salt in a bowl. 
  2.  Dice  the cold butter and add into flour. 
  3.  Work until it resembles coarse sand with a few pea-sized pieces of butter still visible. 
  4.  Sprinkle the water evenly over the mixture and toss gently a few times, just until it forms a dough that holds together.
  5.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes in the freezer before working with it. 
  6.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
  7.  Roll out the dough and transfer to prepared tart pan. 
  8.  Bake the crust for about 20 minutes or until firm. 
  9.  Remove the pan from the oven and brush with the beaten egg.
  10.  Place once again the pan into oven and bake for about 5 minutes.

Filling:
  1. To make a filling, cut off the thick stems of the spinach and discard.
  2. Clean the spinach by filling up your sink with water and soaking the spinach to loosen any sand or dirt. Put the spinach in a salad spinner to     remove any excess moisture.
  3. Heat 2  tbs of the olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.
  4. Add shallots or onion. 
  5. When onion turn translucent and loose crispiness, add the spinach. Turn it over in the pan so you coat more of it with olive oil and onion. Cover for 1 minute. Uncover and turn the spinach over again.
  6. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  7. Strain the mixture (if necessary) and set aside to cool.
  8. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. 
  9. Lay the salmon on a cutting board. Season with salt and pepper. 
  10. Place salmon, skin side down, in a non-stick pan with an oven-proof handle. Squeeze juice generously on the salmon fillet or pour white wine. Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
  11. Bake the salmon. To test for doneness, insert a fork into the salmon and gently twist. The salmon is done as soon as it begins to flake.  Be sure to test at the minimum baking time. When done, the salmon will be opaque with milky-white juices. It will take about 10 to 15 minutes. Cooking time might vary. 
  12. Flake salmon and incorporate gently  into the spinach mixture. 
  13. Add the smoked salmon scraps into mixture.
  14. In a bowl whisk the eggs, cream. Incorporate cheese. 
  15. Spread the spinach and salmon mixture over the baked tarte crust. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  16. Pour the egg mixture over spinach and salmon mixture. 
  17. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the center of the tarte has set or the knife inserted comes out clean. 
  18. Place on a wire rack to cool slightly. 
  19. Remove from the tarte pan and enjoy.


Tips:
  • Buy wild salmon. Fresh is better than frozen. It has better consistency. Frozen is okay if you can’t get fresh. If the salmon is frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towel. Cut larger pieces of salmon into serving-size pieces.
  • To make the  tarte crust I double or even triple ingredients, then I freeze. It saves my time. 
  • You can also use smoked salmon strips or scraps as a topping.