I have a bit of a confession to make, Quiche, the perfect picnic food, is not my favourite. I loathe quiche Lorraine, it actually now makes me feel a bit ill. I find it far too imbalanced for my palate, I need some greenery in there.
I do however have a particular quiche that I love, and that is the Higgidy spinach, red pepper and feta quiche, usually crustless. Now Higgidy quiche this is not, it is really no where near as theirs is béchamel based, but this brings a little bit of those Mediterranean flavours into an easier make version. You can whip this up on a Sunday, pop it in the fridge and cut off a slice to take for lunch every day.
You Will Need:
1 batch of shortcrust pastry, or to make your own: 280g Plain Flour, 60g Lard and 60g Butter, 1tsp Poppy Seeds, splash or two of milk.
1 small red onion sliced
240g Spinach
3 Small red peppers, roasted and peeled
Feta Cheese
70g Cheddar Cheese, grated
3 Duck Eggs, or 4 standard normal eggs
For the Béchamel, 40g Butter, 40g Flour, 230ml Milk
- To Make my favourite pastry, cut the fats into cubes and put in a dish with the flour and gently toss with your hands to coat. Put the dish in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove from the freezer and put in your food processor. Pulse while slowly adding milk until just combined. Season with salt and pepper and add the poppy seeds. Work together with your hands into a ball and cover and rest in the fridge.
- While the pastry rests, roast your peppers if you intend to do so. Turn your oven up as high as it will go and put the peppers in on a baking tray for 30 Minutes. They are done when the skins are charred. Allow to cool and remove the stems and skin. Slice up, make sure to store any you have left over in an airtight jar.
- Time to sauté your onions in a small knob of butter until just golden, add your spinach and toss until wilted.
- Remove your pastry from the fridge and roll out. Grease your dish and add your pastry, crimp the edges if you want to be fancy, then blind bake using baking beans at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.
- Make your cheats béchamel (not really béchamel at all, i know) by melting your butter in a saucepan, add the flour and mix to make a roux. Cook for a couple of minutes before slowly adding your milk, mixing all the time. Once the milk is all incorporated and the sauce has cooked for a couple of minutes more, remove your pan from the heat and add your cheddar to melt into the sauce.
- Whisk your eggs. When the béchamel is cool add the eggs and whisk together. Remove your crust from the oven and lay the spinach and onions over the bottom of the crust. Pour over your filling evenly and top with pepper strips and crumbled chunks of feta. Be generous, I was far too mean with my toppings!
- Cook in the oven for 40 minutes until golden on top.
Do you have a favourite Quiche recipe I might like?
P.S. What is it about the word Quiche, I cannot help but capitalise it, maybe because of the Q and the Queen?! I have had to go back and grammar check the whole post for errant capital Q's!!