Lynne made this to take with us on
our break in De Kelders with vegetarian friends and it was very well received.
The rich cheese pastry is a doddle to make in a food processor. We used very
large asparagus spears and didn't cut them up. You might wish to. We also put
them in raw; you could steam them for a minute or two or even use a large tin
of asparagus if you want to make this out of season. It does make a very large
quiche. Be careful with your pastry when you line your tin, so there are no
cracks or leaks (it has happened to Lynne.) As a precaution, wrap it in aluminium foil. Or
just use a large ceramic quiche dish
Pastry: 140g
plain flour - 85g cold butter, cubed - 85g good mature cheddar cheese - (optional) 1/2
teaspoon cayenne pepper - ice water
For the
filling: 6 eggs - 225 ml cream - salt and white pepper to season - 100g cheddar - 300g fresh asparagus spears,
washed and dried
Put the flour in a bowl, add the
butter and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the
grated cheddar and cayenne and mix. You can do this quickly in a food
processor. Add 3 tbsp cold water and mix until the pastry forms a ball. Wrap in
cling film and chill for 10 minutes while you prepare the asparagus.
Snap the hard bottoms off the
asparagus spears - you can freeze the bottom pieces to make asparagus soup
later
Heat oven to 160ºC. Butter a 20cm x 5cm
deep loose-bottomed tart tin, or a 35 x 12cm rectangular tart tin. Dusting your
surface with some flour, carefully roll out the pastry and line the tin. Chill
in the freezer for 20 minutes, then blind bake the pastry case, first lining
with baking paper, and filling with baking beans and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the beans and paper, and return the pastry case to the oven for more 10
minutes. Remove and cool.
In a jug, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the cream. Season. Sprinkle half the grated cheese over the pastry case, then add the asparagus and egg mix. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese (if using a rectangular tin, you may not need all the mixture, so add it gradually). Bake in the lower half of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until it is just set. We had this with a butternut, beetroot and creamed goats cheese salad and a bottle of Vondeling Chenin blanc
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
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