Quiche

Quiche is one of ‘those’ dishes that people either love or hate. The first time I ever made one it leaked all over the floor of the oven – a lovely heads up that the oven was broken at stony cold. Nice.

I think the reason so many people dish the quiche is because there are so many bad ones out there – those hideous high pie quiches at chain coffee and muffin stores. Eugh – just the thought of that high mound of coagulated egg makes me gag and I love quiche.

Then there are the thin mean quiches that seem all liquidy. What’s with that? I’ll have my water in a glass on the side thanks, not swimming around on the plate.

This recipe on the other hand is superb. I use the following as the basis for every quiche I make, changing the filling depending on what I have in the veggie drawer. Now, if I could just get more than one of my offspring to eat it I could add something else to the dinner roster.

I’ve given you a range of filling suggestions and also two options for the pastry. The filo is a great quick and easy solution but don’t expect a strong base to it. still, it add lovely flavour. The pictures below are using Maggie Beer’s most awesome sour cream pastry, the pastry I now seem to use all.the.time.

Quiche
The foundation

  • 6 eggs
  • 300ml pouring cream
  • 100g parmesan
  • fresh herbs of your choice – I’m a big fan of chives and parsley in quiche
  • salt and pepper 

Various filling ideas:

  • dash of olive oil
  • 1 leek, finely sliced
  • 125g mushrooms, finely sliced
  • 1 small zucchini, finely sliced

or

  • dash olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 4 slices ham or bacon, finely sliced

or

  • dash olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 1/2 cup pitted black olives
  • 1/2 bunch silverbeet, blanched or sauteed w/ the onion
  1. Saute the onion or leek until softened but not coloured
  2. Add the vegetables or the bacon/ham or the silverbeet and cook for 3-5 minutes
  3. Let cool slightly
  4. Combine the eggs, cream, herbs and seasonings.
  5. Spread ingredients over the pastry base then top with the parmesan
  6. Pour over the egg mixture
  7. Bake for 30 minutes at 180C
 The pastry case
Option A – filo
  • 3 sheets filo
  1. simply line the case with the filo
Option B – sour cream pastry
Maggie Beer
  • 250g plain flour
  • 200g butter
  • 120ml sour cream
  • Process flour and butter
  • Add 2/3 of the sour cream and then add spoon by spoon until dough comes together into a ball
  1. Refrigerate for 20 minutes
  2. Roll out, bake blind in a 220C oven*
  3. Fill and bake according to the recipe
* I hardly ever bake blind anymore – all that faffing around with pie weights makes my neck itch – so now I line the pie dish with the dough straight away, freeze it for 20 minutes then bung it in the oven. If any bubbles come up just gently push them back down. Done!