In August, as the end of the Swedish summer draws nearer, people have crayfish parties. I'm not a fan of most food stuffs that come from under water, so I have only taken part in the odd one. Very often there's very little else to eat, apart from the crayfish. But some people make a quiche made with a cheese from northern Sweden, a region called Västerbotten (Westrobothnia or West Bothnia). It's been ages since I've had this and since my sister always talks extatically about it, I finally decided to make one myself. It helps that Lundulph is at a stag weekend, so won't be pulling faces about the cheese. I decided to go for "the original" recipe (in Swedish) provided by the company that makes västerbottensost. As per usual with a slight improvement - garlic.
Ingredients
Dough
125 g unsalted butter
190 g plain flour (3 dl)
1 tbsp water
Filling
3 large eggs
2 dl whipping cream
black pepper
4 cloves garlic (optional)
300 g grated Västerbotten-cheese
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 ℃, no fan.
- Slice the butter thinly and place in a bowl. Add the flour and pinch together to form fine crumbs.
- Add the water and work together to a soft dough.
- Use your fingers to spread the the dough in a pie dish (24 cm diameter). Push it gently to cover the bottom and sides as evenly as possible.
- Prick with a fork and bake in the oven for 10 – 15 min.
- While the crust is baking, stir together the eggs, cream and black pepper. Press in the garlic if using and finally stir in the cheese.
- Remove the pie crust from the oven and pour in the filling, making sure to distribute the cheese across the whole pie.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the filling sets. Remove and let cool down before serving.
Yes, I decided to add garlic, though this is not in the original recipe. I just thought it would be a nice addition and also I'm looking to use up what's left from last year's crop. I owned up to my mum when I spoke with her last night, to which she commented without batting an eyelid, that she always does that.
I'm trying to figure out what other cheese could be used as a substitute, if you can't find västerbottensost. It is quite crumbly, salty and strong-flavoured, so maybe a mature cheddar would do the trick or something similar. I'm lucky that I can get hold of it in the UK, though it's expensive and disappears way too quickly.
