Leek quiche
This quiche was born out of the need to use up both leeks and soft cheese, and I used http://www.community-harvest-whetstone.org.uk/recipes/courgette-broad-bean-quiche as the basis for my recipe.
Serves 4-6, depending on how hungry you are!
Ingredients
For the pastry:
90g soft butter/Trex or a mixture of the two (according to your taste)
180g plain flour
pinch salt (if using unsalted butter)
1 tsp sugar
2 egg yolks (keep the whites for later use)
2 tbsp water
For the filling:
4 small leeks, trimmed, washed and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
soft cheese (I used a homemade lactic cheese, but ricotta or similar would be fine)
2 eggs
the egg whites leftover from the pastry
150ml milk
salt
pepper
Directions
The day before you want to eat the quiche, make the pastry:
- Put all the pastry ingredients into a bowl and stir with a spoon until they start to come together.
- At this point you’ll need to use your hand to gather the ingredients into a ball, ensuring everything is well mixed in.
- Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.
The day you want to eat the quiche:
- About 2 hours before you want to eat, take the pastry out of the fridge and leave to come up to room temp for about 30 mins
- Grease your quiche dish & roll the pastry out so it is large enough to cover it.
- Line the dish, and trim the excess pastry. Use that to fill in any cracks in the pastry case, or reinforce any bits that are a bit thinner.
- Brush the pastry case with egg white & refrigerate for 30 mins.
- While the case is chilling, gently sweat the leeks in the olive oil until they’re soft and have become translucent.
- Heat the oven to gas 4/180C
- In a jug, whisk together the eggs, egg white, milk and seasoning.
- To assemble your quiche, first spread the cooked leeks over the base. Then spoon soft cheese (amount according to taste) on top. I probably put 5 or 6 dessert spoons in total. Then pour the milk & egg mixture over the top evenly.
- Gently place your quiche in the oven and cook for 25-40 minutes, until the pastry is brown and the filling set but with a slight wobble.
- Enjoy with a fresh salad and some new potatoes.
This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)