When I say classic mushroom and leek quiche, I mean exactly that. It has all the ingredients of a perfect quiche: it’s full of flavour with a gorgeous texture. Filled with vegetables, this is almost what you’d call hearty. This means it’s kind of a cross between a vegetable tart and a classic silky quiche.
Served with a side salad, it makes a perfect light meal.
Perfect Mushroom and Leek Quiche
Using the classic quiche as a base, this recipe is a hearty vegetarian meal on its own, or serve with a side salad and chutney.
4
servings30
minutes40
minutesClick for the screen to stay active while you cook
You will need
1 large 1 leek, washed, sliced into rounds
6 6 mushrooms, finely sliced
1 medium 1 courgette, cut into thick matchsticks
2 2 shallots, finely chopped
1 1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
1 tsp 1 olive oil
1 1 fresh bay leaf
1 handful 1 chopped flat leaf parsley
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
6 6 free range eggs
100 ml 100 pouring cream
Pinch nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1/4 cup 1/4 grated parmesan cheese
- Pastry
2 sheets 2 frozen butter shortcrust or puff pastry or 1 quantity of home made shortcrust pastry (recipe coming soon)
Here’s what to do
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add the shallots and leek and sauté gently for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, courgette, tomato, bay leaf and parsley, season with salt & pepper and continue to cook gently until all the liquid has gone.
- Check seasoning and set aside to cool.
- Prepare tart tray by brushing butter all over, making sure you get into the fluted edges.
- Prepare pastry base
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- If using sheets of frozen pastry, layer one on top of the other and roll out so it’s large enough to completely cover the base and sides of the tart tray – or roll out home-made shortcrust pastry to fit.
- Refrigerate 10 minutes. Remove and poke little holes all over with a fork (called docking the pastry).
- Screw up some baking paper and place on the pastry, then cover with baking beads (or dried beans). Bake 10 minutes to partially cook.
- Remove from oven and reduce heat to 180C.
- Allow to cool 10 minutes or down to room temperature before filling.
- Fill and bake
- Spread vegetables over the pastry, then sprinkle half the cheese over.
- Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, add the cream and nutmeg, then beat well until completely combined.
- Gently pour egg mix over the vegetables and top with remaining cheese.
- Bake 30-40 mins. It will be cooked when firm, but with a slight wobble.
- Remove from the oven, let cool in the tin 5 minutes, then serve or transfer to a cooling rack.
Tips and tricks
- This is a great freezer recipe, so if you’re looking for something to make in advance for those work lunches, this is perfect.
- This recipe doesn’t include bacon, but feel free to add it. Just sauté it with the shallots and leeks at the start of cooking.
What makes this a classic mushroom and leek quiche
Because real men eat it! Yes, they do. I’ve made many quiches for real men and they’ve loved them all.
Seriously though, the quiche we know today reportedly appeared in the French region of Alsace-Lorraine region during the 1920s. Hence the name, Quiche Lorraine. In its purest form, classic Quiche Lorraine is made with Gruyère cheese, smoked bacon (or lardons) and a savoury custard that’s silky and smooth.
It is possible, however that quiche originally made its first known appearance as early as the 1300s. On a brief tour around sites about quiche, some things are consistent:
- The word ‘quiche’ originates from a German word, küeche, meaning cake.
- Even though the dish is thought to have originated in Germany, it found its way across the border to the Alsace-Lorraine region, which borders Germany, where it was adopted by French cooks.
- Savoury tarts filled with custards or meats are a common staple in England, dating back to early Medieval times.
If you’re looking for the classic, renowned Irish chef, Rachel Allen has a great recipe for Quiche Lorraine on BBC Good Food that’s worth a look. Rachel uses fresh parsley and chives in her custard, but you can leave these out to keep it smooth and pure.
Making it your own
Once you have the basics down for a quiche, you can make it with as little or as much as you like. Just make sure you always blind bake your tart case so it doesn’t go soggy and have a well flavoured custard and you won’t go wrong.
Did you make this recipe?
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