Courgette - Cosette what is a beautiful rime (with all respect!). Cosette is one of the principal protagonists of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet and dramaturge of 19th century. She is the daughter of Fantime. This is how Hugo describes the fatherhood of Valjean:
[...] Jean Valjean, in all his long life, had known nothing of those things man can love. The passions and the loves that succeed one another had not left on him those successive greens, a tender green over a somber green, that we notice on leaves that have lived through the winter, and on men who are past their forties. In short, and we have more than once insisted upon it, all that interior fusion, all that whole, whose result was a lofty virtue, ended in making of Jean Valjean a father for Cosette. A strange father forged out of the grandfather, the son, the brother, the husband that existed in Jean Valjean; a father in whom there was even a mother; a father who loved Cosette, and who adored her, and to whom that child was light, family, homeland, paradise.

Victor Hugo, "Les Misérables"
Total Time: 1 h
Prep:          30 min.
Baking:       30 min.
Yield:          4 - 6 servings
Level:          Easy


Ingredients:
Tarte crust
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4  cup cold butter
  • 1/3 cold water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Filling
  • 2- 3 medium  zucchinis 
  • 3 medium tomatos or 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 2-3 scallions or 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
  • 2 tbs Dijon mustard
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup finely shredded Gruyère
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 glove garlic (optional)
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, clean, trim tops and bottoms. Cut the zucchini lengthwise in 1/4-inch-thick slices. Lay the zucchini slices on a layer of paper towels, and sprinkle ½ teaspoon of the salt over one side, then turn them over and sprinkle with another ½ teaspoon of salt. Allow the zucchini to sweat their water for 30 minutes. Press them gently between two layers of paper towel to dry. 
  2. Remove skin and seeds  from tomatoes. Diced finely. Place in a colander to  drain off the excess of water . 
  3. Remove the crust from the oven. Brush the bottom with the Dijon mustard.
  4. Arrange the zucchinis, half of the cheese over the the bottom of the baked crust.
  5. Arrange evenly the tomatoes over the zucchinis. 
  6. Spread evenly scallions over the topping.
  7. In a bowl whisk the eggs, cream and milk.
  8. Season with salt, pepper and whisk well.
  9. Pour the egg mixture before sprinkling with the remaining cheese.
  10. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until golden and the center of the quiche has set or the knife inserted comes out clean. 
  11. Place on a wire rack to cool slightly. 
  12. Remove from the tarte pan and enjoy.

Tips:
  • To make the tarte crust I double or even triple ingredients, then I freeze. It saves  your time;  you can also use puff pastry sheets available in the grocery. 
  • You can add some thyme leaves for color and aroma. 
  • Buy medium to small zucchini. They  have a more delicate flavour and are more  tender.The larger, older ones get a bit more of an acrid or bitter after-taste.
  • You can also use diced tomatoes available in the grocery or sliced tomatoes.