Smoked Salmon & Rainbow Chard Quiche

Men and women have different definitions of what's romantic or sexy. For example, one night we were in a restaurant talking about how you might dress if you were trying to attract someone. You see Nick had become somewhat smitten by the waitress and was looking for tips as to how to approach her. The counsel of women at the table suggested a slow approach and mentioned that if they were in the same situation they'd undo the top button of their shirt, wear heels and shake their hair out.

Nick pondered this for a few minutes with a scholarly dedication reserved for monks. The waitress walked past again.

"So should I unzip my fly a bit?" he suggested, I guess extrapolating from our suggestion of undoing a top button.

"Noooooo!!!!!" we all screamed in unison trying to stop what should have been a harmless flirtion into one involving the police and having "sex pest" recorded on your permanent record. The female counsellors had to explain that in no way is unzipping one's fly attractive.

Sometimes, Mr NQN comes up with romantic suggestions albeit unintentionally. One day he suggested that we take dinner to the park for a picnic and I loved the idea. Dinner was a smoked salmon quiche made using some of the new smoked salmon.

Back to Nick and the waitress. Through some fast flirting they ascertained that they were both on instagram and followed each other. Scouring her instagram feed, he concluded that there was a man in her life but it could have been her brother. He went back there a couple of days later but alas it was her day off. But in the confidence filled world of men like Nick, he isn't giving up!

Smoked Salmon & Rainbow Chard Quiche

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

For pastry

• 125g/4 ozs butter, cold, cubed
• 1 1/4 cups plain all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 200g/7ozs. natural yogurt
• oil for spraying tart tin

For filling

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2-3 stalks rainbow chard
• 4 thick slices Woolworths Gold smoked salmon
• 1/2 cup chopped green shallot
• 1/2 cup grated cheese

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F. In a food processor, combine the butter, flour and salt and process until the mixture is fine. Add the yogurt and process again until you get a sticky dough that holds together.

Step 2 - Spray a 24cm/9.6inch tart tin with oil and roll the dough into a ball. It will be sticky but just flatten it out and press it into the tin. There will be enough to line the base and sides. If you like your base to be extra crispy, line it with baking paper and baking weights or dried beans/uncooked rice and bake for 15 minutes.

Step 3 - In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and add the milk and whisk until combined. Wash and dry the rainbow chard and chop off the woody ends. Slice the stalk into small 1/2 inch pieces and then slice the leaves up and add everything to the egg mix. Add the shallots, cheese and the smoked salmon (I just cut this up into thin slices). Pour into the prepared base.

Step 4 - Bake for 10 minutes at 200C/400F. Turn heat down to 180C/350F and bake for twenty minutes more.