Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche

12oz short crust pastry (click here for homemade recipe)

1/2 a red pepper chopped

1/2 a yellow pepper chopped

1/2 a small onion

Small handful of baby spinach chopped

1/2 a courgette finely sliced for the top

3 medium eggs

150ml double cream

2 teaspoons of tomato puree

A little plain flour to dust the work surface

Salt

Pepper

preparation 5 mins • you cook for 16 mins • total time 1 hr 31 mins

Serves 2

Watch a 30 second preview of my cook-along video below

If you cannot view the video below, click here to download QuickTime from Apple's website.

Perfect for a picnic, lunch or a light dinner, this quiche is packed with colourful peppers, baby spinach and onion, all inside a crisp pastry shell. Surprisingly easy to make, it's delicious summer food that looks great. This is a two part recipe. In part one we roll the pastry and cook the case. In part two we fill the quiche and cook it!

Rolling pin to roll out the pastry

Measuring jug

Palate knife or flat bladed knife would be useful

Small sharp knife to trim the pastry

2 x 7" circular discs of baking parchment - draw around the base of the quiche/flan dish. 1 disc is for lining (below) 1 is for blind baking.

7" quiche/flan dish greased and lined with 1 of the parchment discs

Ceramic baking beans or anything heavy and oven proof (marbles, rice)

Fork to whisk the eggs

Before you start, preheat your oven to 180c, have a clear surface, the pastry and rolling pin ready and the plain flour out. Now click here!

Before you start, make sure your quiche case has cooled slightly. Have the veg chopped, the eggs broken into the measuring jug and the cream standing by. Now click here!

Preheat your oven to 180c. Lightly flour your work surface and roughly flatten the pastry ready to roll out. Dust your rolling pin and roll the pastry a few times towards and away from you. Turn the pastry 90 degrees and roll again towards and away from you to get a rough circular shape slightly larger than your quiche/flan dish. To check the size, turn your dish upside down on the pastry. The pastry should be big enough to generously cover the bottom of the dish, with plenty of excess.

Carefully lift the pasty off the work surface and drape it over the dish. Lifting the sides, ease the pastry into the case and push into the inside edges. Gently push the pastry into the flutes of the dish with your finger.

Prick the base all over with a fork. Cover the base with your remaining disc of baking parchment and place a good handful of baking beans inside. If you don't have baking beans use (clean) marbles, rice or anything to weigh the baking parchment down. Pop the dish on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the baking beans and parchment and cook for a further 5 mins until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool so you can touch it (about 10 minutes).

To trim the pastry case, lie the blade of a small sharp knife almost flat against the rim of the flan case and gently scrape away exposing the top of the rim. Do this all the way around the case, as in the 3rd photo on the right.

Next briefly whisk the eggs in the measuring jug before adding 150ml of double cream. Whisk this briefly before adding the peppers, onion and spinach. Stir thoroughly and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the pastry case and gently place slices of courgette in a circle on top.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until set - the centre should still feel a little wobbly.

Leave to cool slightly before turning it out.

I hope that you enjoy it.

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