The Independent Cook: How to make a vegetable quiche

Make the most of the season’s crop with this simple and quick vegetable quiche from The Independent Cook by Sarah Main. You can of course make your own shortcrust pastry, Sarah shows you how in the book, but with shop bought, it’s even more of a doddle! The quiche can be eaten hot or cold, and served with a salad.
 

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS 

• Flour, for rolling out
• 1 x 250g (9oz) packet of shop-bought shortcrust pastry (or make your own)
• 100ml (3½fl oz) milk
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper
• 1 small onion
• 2 or 3 of the following: 50g (1¾oz) mushrooms, 1 red (bell) pepper, 1 small courgette (zucchini), 6 asparagus spears, 1 small leek
• 20g butter, or 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 50g (1¾oz) Cheddar cheese

NOTE

This recipe involves the following techniques, click on the links for video instructions:

Lining a flan tin

Baking blind

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 7 and get out a 22cm (8½ inch) flan tin (or a cake tin of the same diameter can work as an alternative).
2. Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry to a large circle about 3mm (1/8 inch) thick all over, making it slightly bigger than your flan tin.
3. Use your pastry to line the flan tin, by rolling the pastry up on your rolling pin, then rolling it back out over your flan tin. Gently press it down into the edges of the tin. Trim the excess pastry off to neaten the edges. Place a circle of baking parchment over the top and cover it in baking beans. Cook in the oven for 7 minutes. Remove the baking beans and baking parchment and put the pastry back in the oven for 2 more minutes before taking it out of the oven. If you don’t have baking beans, you can use rice instead.
4. Measure the milk in a measuring jug. Crack the egg into a bowl and beat it with a fork, then add it to the milk and mix. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Peel and chop the onion into small pieces on a chopping board. Slice or chop up the other two or three chosen vegetables into small pieces.
6. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and add the onion. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until soft. Add the chopped vegetables and fry for a further 2 minutes, stirring until they also start to soften. Take the frying pan off the heat.
7. Spread the fried vegetables over the pastry base. Grate the cheese, then sprinkle over the top before pouring the liquid filling into the pastry case around the ingredients. Bake in the oven for a further 10–15 minutes or until it is set and golden brown.

To make this richer, you can swap the milk for single (light) cream. You can also add other ingredients such as fried bacon strips, chopped ham or small broccoli florets.

Find this vegetable quiche and more delicious and beginner-friendly recipes in The Independent Cook: Tasty recipes to set ou up for life by Sarah Main, available to purchase directly from us and from other good booksellers.

Photograph by Christine Bradshaw.