Feta and greens quiche
Serves 4, heartily
Ingredients
Either:
1 shop bought pastry case
OR:
1 packet short-crust pastry + flour for dusting
OR:
50g cold butter/25g each butter & lard
110g plain flour + more for dusting
Pinch of salt
Cold water
Little butter/oil for greasing paper
Filling:
1 or 2 onions
50g butter/50ml oil
Around 200g cooked greens * or 300g raw
Around half a packet of feta
3 eggs
Salt & pepper
Optional: fresh nutmeg, bay leaf
*spinach, baby spinach, rocket, kale or a weird mixture (what I tend to have)
Tools
Scales
Mixing bowl
Measuring jug
Saucepan
Scraper/spatula
Teaspoon
24cm pie or shallow cake tin
Greaseproof paper
Baking beans/dried beans
Rolling pin
Frying pan
Grater for nutmeg
Sieve
Fork
Scissors
Whisk
Pastry brush
Wire rack
Time
20m if making pastry
30m prepping and cooking veg
1 hour to bake and soften onions
Level
Harder, and quite involved
Prep
If making pastry:
Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the cubes of butter/butter & lard
Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of fat remaining
Sprinkle over 2 teaspoons of water & stir in with a regular knife or your hands. If this isn’t enough to bring the pastry together in a ball, add a little more and try again
And again if needed!
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 20-30 minutes
Alternatively: use a food processor. Put the flour, butter and salt in the food processor and pulse until the fat is rubbed into the flour.
With the motor running, gradually add the water through the funnel until the dough comes together. Only add enough water to bind it and then stop.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm as before and chill for 20-30 minutes
Prep quiche filling
Slice onions & set aside
If greens are raw, cook them gently in a pan with some water for about 5-10 minutes (it depends on the greens: baby spinach will be quicker than kale), or just a minute or 2 in a microwave
If you have time, pour the cream into a saucepan and add the onion leftovers, salt & pepper, nutmeg and bay leaf (if using). Turn the heat to medium, stir once or twice, and turn off after 5 minutes
Cut a length of greaseproof paper that is wide enough to line the inside of your tin
Method
Place frying pan on heat and add butter/oil. Turn the heat to medium and add the onions
Turn the oven to 200C
Take pastry from the fridge; dust your counter with a sprinkling of flour
Place the pastry in the middle and start rolling it out: go backwards and forwards a few times then turn the pastry 45 degrees and repeat
Do this until your pastry is about 2mm thick
CHECK ON YOUR ONIONS, don’t let those fuckers burn; turn down the heat if you need to. You want them squidy, sweet and brown, and that takes time (around 30 minutes)
Bring your tart tin *close* to the pastry
Wiggle the pastry; if it feels as though it’s a bit stuck, take a spatula and wiggle it under to break the pastry free. Don’t worry if there are little gaps, you can patch them up later
Take the rolling pin and wiggle the pastry on, and then place the pastry onto the tin
*GENTLY* push the pastry down into the tin, right into the corners
If you have any holes, take a little pastry from the sides of the case and just patch it up
Take a fork & prick the pastry around 15 times
Take your greasproof paper and paint it with the butter/oil (use your fingers if you don’t have a pastry brush)
Place the paper greased side down onto the pastry
Pour in the baking beans/dried beans
Bake for around 20m, or until the sides of the pastry are golden brown
While the pastry bakes, take the cream and, if you’ve been letting it sit with the onion
etc, sieve it into a large bowl
Crack the eggs into the cream and beat until mixed in
Stir in the cooked onions, the cooked greens and crumbled feta
As soon as the pastry is cooked, remove it from the oven. Turn the heat to 180C
Pour the egg/veg mixture in
Return to the cooled oven for 35 minutes
After 35 minutes the egg should be set; the very middle will feel firm
Leave for at least 10 minutes and serve alone or with a salad
Storage
If you have any leftover, leave to cool completely and then place in the fridge
It should keep for 5 days; a little worried? First give it a sniff. Still not convinced? Nibble a little of the egg. You will know, very quickly, if the quiche has gone off.
If you want to reheat DO NOT microwave because the pastry will go gross; place in a warm oven for 10m, but that is a lotta electricity for a slice of warm quiche
