Jenny is my inspiration…

Well I work with a lovely lass called Jenny (who, coincidently, is from north east England) and she has been talking about – and eating – a lovely quiche she made recently. Blue cheese and pumpkin quiche made with homemade shortcrust pastry to be exact…do you need a hanky to wipe away the drool??? I know I did!

Well to say I’ve been thinking about it is a little bit of an understatement – work is work and sometimes a food fantasy is all that gets you through the day! So last night I finally decided to take a little action, get my stuff together and make myself a quiche!

I took the lovely Jenny’s blue cheese idea, substituting the pumpkin for a little caramelised onion instead, added some thyme and put it with a fresh leafy salad and hey presto – a yummy, yummy dinner (and a lunch or two!).

I also added a little thyme to my pastry (which I love very short and crumbly!) – my one criticism is that I don’t think I put in enough blue cheese… it could definitely have been  little stronger – but it was still totally edible…if I made it again – this is how I would do it…

1. short crust pastry (feel free to use store bought if you’re not keen on making your own!)
2. blue cheese (I used King Island Roaring Forties – if you like it strong use the whole wheel!)
3. caramelised onion – about a ¼ of a cup
4. eggs (I used 4)
5. milk – about a ¼ of a cup
6. fresh thyme – about 4 sprigs (1 for the quiche mixture, 3 for the pastry)
7. fresh garlic (1 clove)

Pre heat your oven to 180°c then spray and line your pan. If you don’t have a traditional pie/ quiche pan you can easily use a spring form pan, just make sure to line it!

Gently put your pastry into the pan, cut your clove of garlic in half and rub it over the pastry. If you like a crunchy base, prick the pastry (gently) all over with a fork and then pop it into the oven for about 5-7 mins.

In a separate bowl, mix your eggs, milk, and a sprig of thyme.

In the pastry shell, crumble your cheese and layer with the caramelized onion then pour the egg mixture over the top.

Bake till golden and fluffy (about 15 mins), remove and either leave to cool or eat it hot.

Merci Jenny - Bon Appetite. 

P.S - I would add photos, however, the whole food photography thing is a lot harder than I thought… and my quiche looked (and tasted) a whole lot better than the photo would lead you to believe!