Obsession with quiches?

Afternoon all, 

I appear to have a thing for quiches at the moment - forget the horrid, bland shop brought quiche with soggy bottoms (there is nothing worse than a soggy bottom!). I was thinking about what to make for tea tonight, and there's not much in the fridge (shopping day tomorrow)... apart from half a squash, some red onions, milk and eggs... now I would call these items "household staples" for my fridge and are normally lurking in there somewhere. And a quiche sprung to mind.

I've always got flour and butter in the house, so knocking up some pastry isn't a problem. I make mine in my magimix which saves time and mess (200g plain flour, 100g cold butter, 3 tbsp cold water, pinch of salt - add flour and salt to mixer and pulse, add butter and mix until breadcrumbs, add water, mix until dough starts to form a ball, scope out, pop in a bit of cling and slap in the fridge - job done in less than 5 minutes).

Luckily, there was some rouge goats cheese in the fridge, or else I would have used cheddar, but here is my recipe: 

Roasted Squash, Caramelised Red Onion and Goats Cheese Quiche

Ingredients

Half a medium butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes

2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced

100g full fat soft goats cheese (if you don’t like goats cheese, a strong cheddar will work well)

Olive oil

Knob of butter

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 eggs

142ml of milk

142 ml of double cream

2tsp of dried thyme

1 tbsp runny honey

1 packet of shortcrust pastry (or you can make your own pastry)

For this recipe you will need a 24cm flan tin with a loose bottom.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / GM6. Roll out your pastry until big enough to line your greased tin. Press the pastry gently into the sides of the tin. Be careful not to stretch the pastry otherwise when it cooks it will shrink. Trim off any excess, keeping the off cuts to patch up any holes if necessary. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and line with crumpled greaseproof paper and weigh down with baking beans or dried rice. This is called blind baking. Place on a baking tray and pop in the oven for 15minutes. After 15minutes, take the tin from the oven, reduce the temperature to 180C/GM4 and remove the greaseproof paper and baking beans. Pop the tin back in the oven for a further 10 minutes. Blind baking prevents your pastry going soggy when you add you quiche ingredients. Remove from the oven and brush the pastry with egg white. This will act as a sealant and help prevent any leaks!
2. Now onto the filling. Place the diced squash, 2tsp of dried thyme, 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of runny honey in a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 20minutes at 180C/GM4 until the cubes are soft and starting to brown. Place aside to cool.
3. On the hob, in a large frying pan, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and a knob of butter. When the butter has melted, add the onions and balsamic vinegar and let to reduce over a low heat. The balsamic will help caramelise the onions. This should take 20minutes.
4. To make the egg filling, in a measuring jug add the milk, double cream, 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. Season with salt and pepper. Give the mixture a good stir so everything is combined.
5. To compile your quiche, place the red onions over the bottom of the pastry case; scatter over the squash and crumble over the goats cheese. Pour the egg mixture gently over the filling. Place the quiche back in the oven at 180C/GM4 for 30/40 minutes or until the top looks puffy, golden and set.
6. Leave to cool slightly before turning the quiche out of the tin. Enjoy with a nice green salad.

You can play around with the main filling ingredients and add what you like as long as you stick with the egg filling ration. There is nothing wrong with a bit of experimentation once you get the basics right. I was thinking about doing chorizo, butter bean and tomato quiche... and then remembered I married a vegetarian! Hopefully I can get hold of some veggie chorizo (yes, it does exist)!

Enjoy!

Nic xoxox