I love a quiche – it’s so easy to make and so versatile! An absolute quiche classic is the ubiquitous quiche Lorraine, a simple quiche made with bacon lardons. For this vegetarian version, I’ve swapped the bacon for smoky scamorza cheese and added melting onions, which add a lovely sweet dimension. Definitely a new favourite of mine!
For the pastry:
75g wholemeal flour
75g flour
½ tsp salt
60g butter
1 egg
1 tbsp water
For the filling:
1 onion
20g butter
1 scamorza cheese ball (185g)
3 eggs
350ml cream
¾ tsp salt
pepper
Makes 1 rectangular quiche of 35x12cm or 1 round quiche of 23cm
Prep: 35 min – Resting: 2h – Oven: 45mins – Easy
Start by making the pastry: put the flour and salt into a a food processor. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Turn on the food processor on a medium speed until the butter is broken up and the flour looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and whizz on a medium speed until it forms a dough.* Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
After 2 hours, take the pastry out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 180°C.
Peel and chop the onion. Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until deeply caramelized.
Meanwhile, grate the scamorza cheese and set aside. Beat the eggs and cream with salt and pepper in a jug and set aside.
Grease the quiche tin. Unwrap the pastry and place it onto a surface dusted with flour. Roll into a thin rectangle or disc, slightly bigger than the quiche tin. Lift the pastry into the tin and press it firmly against the rim to make it stick. Cut off any excess pastry. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork.
Distribute the caramelized onions all over the bottom, top with ¾ of the grated cheese, then pour over the egg mix. Finish by distributing the remaining cheese over the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
Beef it up: Replace the onion and scamorza with 200g smoked bacon lardons, which you fry without the butter until browned.
* you can of course make the dough by hand. Rub the butter and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then fold through the egg and water and briefly knead into a dough.
