Since I kept seeing various recipes for tartes/flans/quiches with lovely lines of asparagus across the top I caved in and made one. (Such a sacrifice!) British asparagus is kicking off up here in Yorkshire now so I’m more than happy to indulge for a bit!
Throwing together a quiche of any kind is easy. You make a pastry case, cook off some fillings and fill with egg and cream. Simples! It’s one of the most easily adaptable dishes and that goes of occasion as well as contents. I’m very partial to a breakfast quiche, you can serve it as a fancy starter, a lunch box staple, a picnic food or even a main evening meal. The contents can be anything you have in your fridge, mushrooms and bacon are a staple in this house so that’s usually what we put in a quiche, but anything goes!
Serves 6-8
For the pastry:
225g plain flour
pinch of salt
50g butter
50g Trex (solid vegetable fat)
3-4 tbsp cold water
For the filling:
6 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus
4 eggs
142ml cream/milk
pinch of salt
1-2 tbsp grated parmesan
– Mix together the flour and salt.
– Rub in the butter and Trex with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs.
– Sprinkle most of the cold water evenly over the mixture and mix in with either your hands or a flat bladed knife, adding more water if necessary to bring it together.
– Bring it together in a ball and then press into a flat disc.
– Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
– Heat the oven to gas mark 6 with a flat baking tray in to heat.
– Roll out on a lightly floured work surface until big enough to line a 23cm loose bottomed flan tin.
– Carefully line the tin, patching any holes and pressing to fit the tin.
– Trim the excess dough from the sides.
– Line with foil and fill with baking beans.
– Place on the preheated baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
– Cook off the bacon in a frying pan and steam the asparagus for 4 minutes.
– Remove from the oven and take out the baking beans and remove the foil.
– Scatter the bacon over the pastry case.
– Beat together the cream and eggs and pour into the pastry case.
– Gently lay the asparagus over the top of the egg.
– Scatter the whole thing with parmesan.
– Put it back in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
– Turn down the heat to gas mark 4 and bake for another 10 minutes.
– Check to see that the egg is just set in the centre and turn off the oven if it is, if not then give it another few minutes.
– Either remove from the oven or leave to cool in the oven.
– Slice and serve however you wish.
Anna in the kitchen 