Turn quick quiche into showpiece meal
If you’re like me, you buy a package of puff pastry to make a treat, use one sheet and then put the rest in the freezer, thinking you’ll bake something else with it someday. And there it sits.
The good news is that frozen dough, wrapped up tightly, is good for months.
I’ve got a lovely quiche recipe from Vegetarian Dinner’s in the Oven by Rukmini Iyer (Chronicle Books, 2019) that calls for one sheet.
I’ve made it several times, experimenting a bit. You can use fresh or frozen broccoli. Or another quick-cooking vegetable such as asparagus. Chopped spinach is also an option, but cook it first to remove the moisture.
Feta works in this dish, too, but soft and/or fattier cheeses — even cheddar — do not because they release too much moisture and oil that can soak into the pastry.
The recipe is vegetarian, calling for walnuts, which give a meaty flavour and welcome texture. A couple of crisp bacon strips crumbled into the eggs would also be good.
The sheets of frozen dough come in various sizes, so consider that. You’ll need to lay the pastry inside the pan and have it go up the sides enough so that the eggs and vegetables have a shell for baking.
That means the size of the pan may fluctuate with the size of your pastry. For a 9-by-10inch (23-by-25-cm) sheet of pastry, I used an 8-by-8-by2-inch (20-by-20-by-5-cm) pan and it was perfect. The original recipe called for a 10-by-15inch (25-by-38-cm) sheet of pastry and a “small, deep roasting pan.”
Along with the flavour and ease, I love how pretty the quiche is. You pull it out of the oven and lift it from the pan using the parchment overhang. Then, peel the paper down and off to reveal an elegant-looking golden pastry rectangle with the vegetable-flecked eggs inside.
It’s attractive enough to slide onto a platter and cut at the table, if you’re craving a little loveliness at supper.
A lightly dressed green salad makes it a complete, bright and nourishing meal.
QUICHE WITH BROCCOLI, GORGONZOLA AND WALNUTS
9-by-10-inch (23-by-25-cm) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed 1/2 cup (125 mL) broccoli florets 4 oz. (115 g) Gorgonzola picante cheese, crumbled 1/4 cup (60 mL) roughly chopped walnuts 1 shallot, minced 1 tsp (5 mL) crushed red pepper flakes 1/3 cup (80 mL) light cream 4 large eggs Finely grated zest from 1 lemon 1 tsp (5 mL) fine sea salt 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 tsp/5 mL)
Place rack in the centre of the oven. Preheat to 400 F (205 C). Line bottom and sides of an 8-by-8-by-2-inch (20-by-20-by-5-cm) baking pan with parchment paper so you have a few inches of overhang.
Cover the base of the pan with puff pastry and let dough come up the sides.
Cut broccoli florets into bite-size pieces and cut them in half lengthwise. Scatter florets, Gorgonzola, walnuts, shallot and red pepper flakes over pastry.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cream, eggs, lemon zest, salt and garlic, then pour over quiche filling.
Place pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and just starting to brown and the centre of the quiche is slightly wobbly. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, peel away the parchment, slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
The quiche can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Serves: 4