We've had a welcome taste of summer here in the West Midlands and quiche with a bowl of salad is always a hit with us on warmer days.
The April edition of BBC Goodfood Magazine has a recipe for BLT tart and in true food blogger style I adapted the recipe, just slightly. Unlike the original recipe I made my own shortcrust - maybe I'll give myself a gold star!
When I opened the bag of rocket to grab a few leaves for garnishing the quiche, it was a bit of a surprise to see giant rocket, it was really disappointing on taste and texture, I'll be sure to look for smaller leaves next time.
A layer of red onion marmalade is spread over the base of the pastry and makes for a very tasty quiche.
You will need:
Rectangle baking tin 36x12x3cm, baking beans, baking paper
Pastry:
170g plain flour
85g lard, chopped
85g butter, chopped
2-3 tbsp chilled water
1. Add the flour to a bowl and rub the lard and butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water until a dough can be formed. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in clingfilm. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
2. Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
3. Roll out the pastry and line the tin, trim the excess pastry. Dock with a fork all over the pastry.
4. Take a large piece of crumpled baking paper, place on top of the pastry, fill with baking beans and place on a large tray, place in the oven to cook for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the tin from the oven and carefully remove the baking paper (don't forget the baking beans will be very hot). I mostly laboriously spoon them out into a dish until I can safely pick up the baking paper along with the last remaining baking beans.
6. Brush the base and sides of the pastry case with beaten egg.
7. Return the tin to the oven for 5 minutes or until golden.
For the filling:
150g whipping cream
100g grated mature cheddar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of red onion marmalade
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
rocket
1. Reset the oven temperature to 180ºC.
2. Add the eggs and egg yolk to a bowl and whisk together, add the whipping cream, grated cheese, black pepper and a pinch of salt.
3. Spread the red onion marmalade over the base of the cooked pastry case. Pour the mixture into the case, top with the cherry tomato halves. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
4. Garnish with rocket.
