Serves 8
Ingredients:
For the shortcrust pastry
- 300g plain flour, sifted
- 150g cold unsalted butter, diced
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 75ml ice-cold water
For the filling
- 6 large eggs
- 300ml double cream
- 100ml whole milk
- 400g courgettes, finely sliced
- 100g spring onions, thinly sliced
- 15g red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 100g parmesan
- 100g goats’ cheese
- 10g sea salt
You will need a 23cm round quiche tin that is 5cm deep.
Method:
To make the pastry, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor and whizz briefly. Add in the butter and gently pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, taking care not to overmix. Slowly add the water, you may not need all of it, until the pastry just starts to come together. Empty out the pastry dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently form into a circle shape, about 5cm thick. Wrap the dough and put in the fridge for at least two hours to rest, but preferably overnight.
The next day, roll out dough to 3mm thick and carefully line the tin, patching up any cracks. A good tip is to use a little piece of excess dough to gently push the rolled dough into the corners of the tin. Trim the excess pastry overhanging the tin sides and dot the base with a fork. Keep the excess pastry for any patch ups required after blind baking. It’s essential the pastry is chilled again in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180Oc. Line the pastry dough with a circle of baking parchment and fill with baking beans or rice. Slide into the oven on a baking sheet and blind bake for 20 minutes. After this time, carefully remove the paper and beans (hot!) and return to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the pastry is a nutty golden colour.
For the filling:
Wash and trim the courgettes and finely slice into 2mm rounds; a mandolin or slicing blade on a food processor is the best tool for this. Mix the courgette with the sliced spring onion and chilli in a colander over a bowl and stir in 5g of salt, which will draw out the moisture. Leave the vegetables to drain for 30 minutes and then squeeze them in a tea towel to remove as much liquid as possible. This salting process will intensify the flavour.
- Preheat oven to 170Oc.
Whisk all the remaining ingredients together (apart from the goats’ cheese) and stir in the vegetables. Carefully pour the courgette cream mixture into the blind-baked pastry case, being careful not to overfill and ensuring that the vegetables are evenly distributed. Dot the goats’ cheese over the top. Slide into the oven and bake for 1 hour until set and golden on top. Allow to rest for at least half an hour before tucking in.