We’ve always been impressed by our friends who could whip up a tasty quiche in no time at all. So we were thrilled to discover a recipe from Rose Bakery in Paris that we’ve cooked again and again this summer and has never let us down. This is a basic recipe to which you can really add anything – we’ve done courgettes, asparagus and parmesan (a handful of strong cheese gives it more flavour); ham, peas and Gouda cheese and just plain cheese and leeks – all delicious, though we say so ourselves! Just cook the ingredients lightly first before adding them to the mix (we tend to cook the leeks in butter but leave peas and asparagus plain). We’ve included the recipe for making the pastry, but if we’re in a rush we just use a ready-made short crust pastry that is easy as pie to roll out and bake.
Ingredients:
Pastry:
1 cup (170g) of plain flour (not fine cake flour, but something stronger approaching bread flour)
large pinch of salt
80g of good quality cold unsalted butter (Normandy if possible)
1 egg yolk
80 ml of cold water
Mixture:
500 ml of single cream
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt, black pepper and grated nutmeg
For the pastry, put the flour, salt and butter into a food processor for about 5-8 seconds. Don’t worry if it isn’t all mixed up. If you are doing it by hand, mix the flour and salt and cut the butter into pieces which you then mix together with your fingertips. Then create a well in the mixture into which you pour a third of the water and mix together quickly with a fork (add more water if you need it). Then gather together the mixture with your hands (make sure they are cold, run under cold water if necessary). Don’t knead, just make sure it isn’t either too dry or too sticky. The less you handle the dough, the lighter it will be. Then wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for anything from 30 minutes to 8 hours (or you can freeze it for later).
Then, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and grease a 28cm/11 inch quiche tin (you can use a thick or thin one depending on what type of quiche you want) with butter.
Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out, dusting with flour so it doesn’t get stuck. When it reaches a thickness of about 4 mm, put it in the tin. Don’t stretch it and add a little extra if you can as it will shrink.
Bake the quiche pastry adding in a weight (you can use anything such as foil filled with beans) for about 25-30 minutes. The pastry should be dry and just turning golden.
For the filling, mix the single cream, eggs and egg yolk together. Add a pinch of salt and pepper with some grated nutmeg.
If you are using ingredients such as leeks, it is best to then line the pastry with these and then add the cream mixture to make sure that everything is evenly spread in the quiche.
Then put back into the oven and cook until the mixture becomes firm and doesn’t wobble – usually about half an hour.
