I love quiche! I discovered it in Belgium, as there is a large choice in those relatively healthy fast foods – each day a different quiche with either a soup or a salad. There exist many variants for quiche as for pizza, so you won’t get bored with it easily. Either puff pastry or the so-called pâte brisée, either filled with eggs, cream and veggies, or eggs, cream, veggies and cheese – I am never afraid to try it as I am hardly ever disappointed.
It is ideal for picnic or party (you can eat it warm as well as cold), or just home for lunch or dinner accompanied by a salad.
I have tried a different recipes for quiche but this one which I found on BBC Good Food is exceptional – grated courgettes mixed with eggs and delicate goat cheese with a saffron undertone, decorated with golden slices of courgettes lightly fried in butter. Simply delicious!
- 250 g plain flour
- 125 g butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 tbsp. cold water
- 1 thick pinch of saffron threads
- 500 g courgettes, grated, but one cut into slices
- Knob of butter
- 4 eggs
- 250 ml whipping cream
- 150 g soft goat cheese
- Salad of your choice for serving
- First of all, prepare the pastry. You will need to work fast. The butter should be 3h out of the fridge, to have a room temperature (or put it into a microwave oven for 1min on the lowest heat – it should be soft, not melted!). In a big bowl, mix the flour with the salt, add the butter and elaborate it with your fingers. Add water, so that the mix gets a structure of a pastry, and form a bowl, wrap in foil and leave it at least for 1 hour in the fridge, but it can be also overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave it for few minutes on the room temperature so that it softens a bit. Roll out the pastry on a baking paper into a large circle (5 mm thick), fill the quiche pan with it. Perforate the pastry with a fork, cover with another sheet of baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 10-15 min until golden, then remove the baking paper with the baking beans and bake for another 5 min. Take ut out of the oven and let it cool.
- Place the saffron in a small pot with a tablespoon of hot water and let it absorb the aroma. Mix the grated courgette with a tsp. of salt and place them in a collander. Cover with the courgette slices, sprinkle with salt and let sit for 30 minutes. After that time, let a clean towel to absorb the extra water.
- Melt the butter in a large pan, add the courgette slices and cook for 3 min from each side. When these are done, fry also the grated courgette for 3 minutes, stir well. Leave it cool.
- Beat the eggs with a fork, take out 2 table spoons and spread over the pastry, bake for another 5 min. Take out from the oven and lower the heat to 160°C. Put the rest of the eggs into a bigger bowl with the grated courgette, whipping cream, and saffron. Mix all together well. Season with pepper and salt (if needed, as the courgettes are already salty).
- Pour the mix on the pastry and crumble with the goat cheese. Place the courgette slices on the top and bake for 40 minutes. Leave it cool and serve with a salad.
- - You can prepare the pastry a day ahead and store it in the fridge.
- - If you prepare the quiche a day ahead, store it on a cool place, but not in a fridge – the pastry would not be crunchy.
