Nothing more vegie than quiche except perhaps nut loaf which I’ve never had, never going to, end of. I love quiche in summer eaten cold with a salad, or straight out of the oven in autumn/winter with lots of oven roasted potato wedges or salad. Today I am rather pleased with myself as I made my little one two mini quiches, and a large seasoned one for hubby and myself. She felt very special having her own but funny little girl that she is, she ate the filling and left the crust.
I cheated. There I said it. My guilty secret is out – I used shop bought pastry but it was an all butter version and supposedly easier than making it myself. But what c**p – I had to let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours, then leave it out for an hour before cooking. I could have just made my own pastry but I was busy, busy, busy (read that as lazy, lazy, lazy). This recipe is based on the mega delicious Louise Pickford’s Chickpea and Spinach Flan found in Vegetarian Cooking. Again, I normally blind bake the pastry to make it crispy but today I thought Nooooo, I shall Delia it and bung it in the oven, pricked over, brushed over with egg wash. It was fun, every now and again when the pastry rose, I opened the oven and pricked it to let more air out. It was fine. It worked.
Ingredients:
- 500g shortcrust pastry
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 small onion diced finely
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 150g organic chestnut mushrooms
- 4 free range or organic medium eggs
- 75g mature cheddar
- 1/2 pint full fat milk
- Butter to line pastry dishes
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan oven)
- Grease the fluted pie dishes with butter and set aside
- Roll out the pastry and put into the flan dish (or dishes if your being a clever clogs like me)
- Cut off excess. And then gently push the pastry into the grooves. It’s going to shrink so let a little over the edge.
- Cover with egg wash ( break an egg, mix it up, take a pastry brush and brush a thin layer over the pastry)
- Bung in the oven and cook until it is crispy and golden. If it dares to start rising, just prick a few times more. Most therapeutic.
- Whilst the pastry cooks, prepare the filling.
- Heat oil in a pan and add onions, garlic and turmeric. Fry for about 5 minutes til the onions start to brown. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes until some of the moisture from the mushrooms starts to ooze out.
- While onions/mushrooms cook, mix the eggs and milk together. Season wth salt and pepper to taste.
- Now the fun part. Spread onion mushroom mixture on the golden pastry cases. Then layer with cheese (leave a tablespoon or two for later). Final step, pour on the milk mixture. I had a tiny bit left over, guess it depends on the size of the dish(es).
- Bake until the quiche is firm. As a final flourish, add a little bit of cheese on to create a thin crust.
- Serve with chips, salad, potato salad or / and coleslaw.
Chilli Paper Chains 