The Anything Quiche Formula

Quiches are a great way to stretch out a few leftovers to make a meal. But if I'm in a hurry I don't want to be pfaffing about searching the internet to find a recipe for the exact ingredients I have to hand. After some researching and testing, I made a quiche formula that provides a base recipe for any kind of quiche.

1 ½ cups of any kind of pre-cooked veg, meat or fish can be chucked into a shortcrust pastry tart shell, covered in the mixture of eggs, milk and cream and then baked to make a meal for 3 or 4 people with the addition of a salad on the side.

I often make a quiche to use up leftover broccoli, as this is something I nearly always have in the fridge. It's great with cheese, especially blue, but cheddar is also good and much more of a regular staple in my fridge. If you don't have any cheese, things like mustard or horseradish are a great way to add flavour to quiches, and of course any kind of herbs or spices can be chucked in there too.

For years I thought that quiches were something you bought in a supermarket and were far too complicated to make at home. As with many things I've learnt to make this year, I've realised that all you really need to do is follow a recipe and what seemed so difficult before, turns out to be really rather simple!

Things I have learnt from making this quiche:

If there are any cracks in the tart shell after baking, fill them in with a little of the left over pastry to prevent leakages.

When beating together the egg mixture be careful not to over whisk it and incorporate too much air into the mixture.

For me, this is the perfect ratio of cream to milk, but it can be adjusted to taste. If you prefer a less creamy quiche, omit the cream completely and use 300ml of whole milk instead.

You can fill the tart shell almost to the top, as the filling doesn't expand too much on baking. It's easier to fill the shell half way full, then place on the oven shelf, before topping up with the remaining egg mixture, so that you don't spill it on the way to the oven.

Anything quiche: serves 3-4 with salad and/or potatoes
1 pre-baked shortcrustpastry tart shell

1 ½ cups of pre-cooked veg, meat, or fish
2 eggs
150ml double cream
150ml semi-skimmed milk
1 small handful of cheese, or other flavourings such as herbs, spices, mustard etc.
salt and pepper

Make the tart shell as per the instructions over at this post

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Beat together the eggs, milk, cream, cheese (or other flavourings), salt and pepper until combined

Spread the pre-cooked veg/meat/fish over the base of the tart shell

Pour the egg mixture into the tart shell
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the quiche has just a slight wobble in the centre
Serve warm or cold

Filling ideas:
Salmon or smoked mackerel with dill and horseradish
Bacon lardons (quiche lorraine)
Tuna and cherry tomatoes (sounds weird but tastes good!)

Sautéed mushrooms and blue cheese