Leek and Cashel Blue Cheese Self-Crusting Quiche
Despite the fact that we only have two hens now, we still end up with a lot of eggs and I’m always looking for something new to do with them. I love making egg-based quiches or tarts but, with Little Missy on hand, recipes that involve a number of steps – making pastry, prebaking it, making filling, baking end result – often fall by the wayside. That’s why I’m in love with this crustless quiche recipe.
There are just two steps: make the filling and bake the end result, both things that I can do while LM is napping, and it’s as good cold or at room temperature as it is hot. Depending on what I have a glut of, I vary the vegetable and cheese content: we’ve had broccoli and cheddar, spinach and feta, courgette and Gruyere, even leek and smoked mackerel, using crème fraîche instead of cheese. Just lightly cook your vegetables – steaming or sautéing are both good – mix them with everything else and land into the oven. Even if you don’t have your own hens, this is a cheap and simple recipe to get the most out of the vegetables on hand.
Leek and Cashel Blue Cheese Self-Crusting Quiche
Leeks – 4
Butter – 1 teaspoon
Eggs – 3
Cashel Blue or another blue cheese – 125g, crumbled
Extra virgin olive oil – 1 tablespoons
Milk – 375mls
Self raising flour – 125g
Salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper
Preheat the oven to 190°C (180°C fanbake). Oil a 26cm round quiche dish and put into the oven to heat.
Slice the leeks and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water. Heat the butter with a little olive oil in a deep, heavy-based frying pan. Add the leeks, season with salt and pepper and cook over a moderate heat until tender and the liquid released by the leeks has evaporated. Leave to cool.
Whisk the eggs, cheese, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and milk together. Add the cooled leeks, self raising flour and season well. Pour straight into the hot quiche dish and cook for 35-40 minutes until brown, well risen and firm to the touch.
Serves 6.
Excellent. I won’t say (eggcell..)I’m trying to avoid wheat. Don’t think I put flour in my quiche… is it in this recipe because there’s no crust, or just because?
The flour in this recipe acts as a binder and makes a base of sorts. You need it because of the amount of milk to eggs. If, however, you were to up the eggs and decrease the milk (or just leave it out altogether) then you wouldn’t need the flour at all. Of course, it would be more of a frittata then…