The House of Fraser have been doing some sterling work with bloggers recently. We much appreciate the time and effort gone into what they do while they work with us. I’m delighted to show you the results of my recipe in their fabulous book.
I chose one of my recipes that is easy to make and even easier to eat. Quiche is one of the most undercooked dishes around, and that’s not because people don’t like it. It’s more to do with it being a pastry dish, and just the thought of cooking pastry, hardens the heart of most home cooks who are trying to make a meal on a budget or within a time constraint.
For me, shortcrust pastry is the one I will make at home. I know some cooks who will go all out and make their own puff pastry, but that’s one step too far for me. I like to keep things simple. For this recipe, I’ve let you off easy, with the option to buy your own, as I begin the process from rolling the dough.
My recipe is on pages 40 – 45. I’m delighted with the result and my book stands in pride of place on my bookshelf. It’s not every day you see one of your recipes in print.
So here it is, my simple recipe for Cheese and Tomato Quiche.
Cheese & Tomato Quiche Recipe
Ingredients
- 700 g Shortcrust Pastry
- 250 g Cherry Tomatoes Cut Into Thirds
- 500 g Mild Cheddar Cheese Grated
- 12 Eggs
- 200 ml Milk
Instructions
- Taking the dough out of the fridge, flour a surface so that you can roll out the dough to the shape you need. For 8 small dishes, I break my dough into two equal sections, break each of those into two again and then once again half each piece until I have 8 equal sized portions. Set your oven to 160-170C.
- I use my rolling pin to roll the dough to a slightly larger size than I need for my flan dishes. I used to butter the dish before putting my pastry in, but now I have more professional baking tins, the ones I use for my flans (which came from tesco) don’t need greased before cooking, but I often still spray on some one cal spray or oven release spray.
- I plop my rolled out piece of dough in the flan dish, press around the bottom and the top, which takes the excess dough off the tin. I'm never precise with this and sometimes have to take some bits that overlap off the top and fill in any gaps. You won't notice it when your flan is cooked.
- Fill the flan dishes equally with the cheese and half the chopped tomatoes.
- Break your eggs into a jug and add the milk. Beat the egg and milk together until it is fully mixed.
- Fill each flan dish to about half an inch from the top with the egg/milk mix, and push the rest of the tomatoes into the top.
- Bake in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the flans don't wobble if you shake the tray. The tops should be a lovely golden colour. When you take them out of the oven, the flans will have risen in the middle, approximately an inch or two high. They will flatten down after a few minutes out of the oven, and look more like shop bought quiche looks.
- Serve hot, or put them in the fridge when they are cool, to eat cold on another day.