There’s an abundance of home grown courgettes in the shops at the moment – or you may have some growing in your garden. Make the most of them with this tasty quiche which can be served warm or cold.
Serves 6. Ready in 1 hour 20 minutes plus chilling.
Ingredients:
Pastry:
- 225g plain flour
- 100g lightly salted butter, chilled and cubed
- 1 medium egg yolk beaten
Filling:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 courgettes, 1 sliced and 2 chopped
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
- 75g mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 3 medium eggs
- 150ml milk
- 100ml crème fraiche
- 50g mature Cheddar cheese, finely grated
- 1 tomato, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp dried Italian mixed herbs
Method:
- To make the pastry, sift the flour into a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt and the cubed butter and rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg yolk and 2-3 tbsp ice cold water and mix with a round bladed knife until the mixture begins to stick together, adding a little more water, if needed. Gather the mixture together with your hands and knead for just a few seconds on a lightly floured surface until just smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up.
- Roll out the chilled pastry and use to line a 20cm round metal flan tin. Prick the pastry base all over with a fork and chill the in the fridge for 15 minutes. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans then bake blind on the hot baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes until the pastry is pale golden. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and fry the courgette slices for 1-2 minutes until just beginning to soften. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen paper.
- Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the shallots, mushrooms and garlic for 5 minutes then add the chopped courgettes and fry for a further 1-2 minutes, stirring until just softened.
- Spoon the courgette and mushroom mixture into the pastry case. Beat together the eggs, milk, crème fraiche and Cheddar and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Slowly pour into the pastry case over the courgette mixture.
- Arrange the fried courgette slices and tomato slices on top of the filling and sprinkle with the Italian mixed herbs. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the filling is set and golden. Serve warm or cold with salad.
Top Tip: Add a handful of pine nuts when frying the shallots and mushrooms if liked or scatter some chopped walnuts over the filling before baking.
