Cheddar & Roasted Vegetable Quiche - Guest Recipe
A recipe from A Portrait of British Cheese by Angus D. Birditt.
Roasting vegetables intensifies their naturally sweet flavour, and combining them with sharp, tangy mature cheddar makes for a classic flavour combination. This simple, versatile recipe is a great way to use up odds and ends in your fridge and the resulting delicious quiche is perfect for picnics, garden gatherings and light meals throughout the summer.
SERVES 6
FOR THE PASTRY
225g wholemeal flour
100g butter, chilled and cut into cubes
pinch of sea salt
3 tbsp cold water
FOR THE FILLING
3 red onions, peeled and sliced
1 large courgette, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
leaves from a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
1 tbsp olive oil
100g spinach
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
225g Daylesford cheddar, grated
200ml double cream
pinch of sea salt
First make the pastry. Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor, and blend until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Then add the water and briefly blend until it resembles damp breadcrumbs.
For this recipe, there is no need to make a dough: simply tip the pastry mixture into a 25cm-diameter fluted tart tin with a removable base and, with your fingertips, press and flatten it out to cover the base and sides of the tin.
Refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes; this will prevent it from shrinking during cooking. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
In a frying pan on a medium heat, fry the red onions, courgette, garlic and thyme in the olive oil for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the mixture is soft. Set aside to cool.
In a separate saucepan, quickly cook the spinach until wilted, then squeeze out as much water as possible. Add the cooked spinach to the vegetable mixture.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, grated cheddar, double cream and salt.
After the 30 minutes is up, take the pastry out of the fridge and cover the base with a circle of baking parchment and a handful of baking beans, then blind bake for 15 minutes in the oven until lightly golden. Once cooked, set aside to cool.
Once the vegetable mixture is cool, tip into the cheese mixture in the bowl and combine. Tip the combined mixture into the cooled pastry case and bake in the oven for 30–40 minutes until the filling is cooked and golden on top.
