I was never been a huge fan of Quiche. Despite having a Quiche that shares my name, Quiche Lorraine, I’ve been nonplussed by it. It’s not for lack of sampling, I’ve tried them from various places and have found them passable but hardly something to get excited about. Until my friend M made me a Quiche. Then the doors to the Secret Quiche Fan Club opened and I finally saw the light. In a semi religious moment I bulldozed my way through a quarter of her quiche and would have gone back for more were it not for decorum.
The key to this quiche is the pastry: flaky, buttery and golden, the addition of cream cheese giving it that extra deliciousness. It will have you ditching your regular savoury pie crust for this quiche crust permanently. As for the word Quiche, every time I hear the word I remember a quote from Designing Women (that great 80’s sit-com, yes 80s sit-com addict here) where one of the characters called a Quiche a “Quickie”. And in the way I was disappointed to learn that Dixie Carter who played the liberal Julia Sugarbaker was in fact a conservative in real life, I was conversely elated when I tasted this quiche. Dixie let me down but M’s recipe didn’t. And don’t forget, now that Springtime is upon us in the Southern Hemisphere, Quiche also happens to be perfect picnic food.
Perfect Picnic Quiche
Pastry
- 200g cream cheese
- 125g cold butter
- 1- 1 1/4 cups plain flour
Filling
- 1/2 cup grated cheese
- 200g proscuitto
- 3 spring onions
- 2 tablespoons parsley
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 5 large eggs
- 1-1 1/4 cups milk
- handful cherry tomatoes
- 75g danish feta, torn into small pieces
1. Preheat oven to 220c. Place a baking tray in oven to preheat.
2. Chop cream cheese and place in 1 litre microwave proof jug. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes until soft.
3. Working quickly, grate cold butter and add to cream cheese and mix well. Stir in 1 cup of flour. If the dough is too soft, add the extra flour. Tip into a flan tin and lightly dust with flour and press out over the base and sides.
4. Place all fillings in a bowl except for Danish feta and cherry tomatoes and beat until combined. Pour into a pastry case. Place danish feta and cherry tomatoes over the top and push down until they are half submerged in egg mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Carefully place onto the hot oven tray and bake at 220c for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180c and bake for a further 20 minutes until golden and firm. If you want the pastry to be extra crispy, bake the base blind (no beans or rice weighing it down is necessary) for 15 minutes at 200c. Add the quiche filling and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Stand for 10 minutes.
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15 Comments | Add your own
Dang, was that line really from Designing Women? I’ve heard it used in a sketch show and thought it was so clever.
Never been a big fan of quiche either but yours looks great and bursting with filling
I can’t wait to make this! What size pan is the recipe meant for? And really, grate the butter?
MMMMM looks delish! i’m so making this on Saturday afternoon
I was about to say, but where is the recipe, and then I found it!
GREAT! Making it this weekend.
Thanks, NQN!
That looks delicious! I wouldn’t say quiche is a favourite food of mine but its so easy to make one to keep in the fridge for lunches. I’m definitely going to try out this recipe.
What great timing!! I have a picnic organised for tuesday and was looking for recipes for portable food - there’s nothing worse than a soggy sanger =(
Thanks NGN!
PS: have you seen the ads for Andrew Denton’s interview with Nigella on Enough Rope this monday? Can’t wait =D
I have never been crash hot about quiche myself. I have always found that it is either too wobbly or lacking flavour. I might give this a go just because it is so darn good looking! Do you think i could use sundried tomatos instead of cherry?
Well, I am a quiche fan and this is going to get tried out this week. It looks fabulous!
Hi Y-I’m not sure where it was first, first from but definitely from designing Women in the 80s. I loved that show, although people have called me Suzanne Sugarbaker….hmmm
Hi Brittany-I think my friend used a dish about 30×15 (just from my guess) but a regular quiche tin would do I would think. Yep grate the butter, it’s one way to incorporate it into the pastry (it’s cold so it grates fine).
Hi Sarah-Cool! Let me know how you go
Hi Taiko Tari-Hehe there’s always a recipe
I’d love to hear whether you like it!
Hi Bria-It is really easy isn’t it. I’m not a big fan of Quiche but I am a fan of this Quiche
Hi Sarah-Great timing! No problems, glad to be able to help. I adore picnics so I’ll have more picnic recipes to come.
Ooh I did, I got very excited about that! It must have been from a while ago when she came to Sydney I guess. I can’t wait!
Hi Maria-That’s exactly what I thought
I think the stronger flavours of the proscuitto (she used really good proper proscuitto) and the sun dried tomato would work beautifully! 
Hi Kim-Excellent, well if you try it, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Thanks!
A couple more quiche-ish ideas for you…
Firstly…instead of prosciutto try dry curing a little pork.
Make up a mix of 2 parts salt to one part brown sugar, then grind peppercorns, star anise and juniper berries in a mortar, finally add some chopped bay leaves to the mix. Rub into a piece of belly or loin every day for 5 days, draining off any excess liquid at the same time.
Rinse off the remaining cure and dry thoroughly. The cure will have drawn the flavour of the spices all through the meat.
When you want to use it, cut it into thin strips and blanche for a few minutes in boiling water before adding to the quiche…quite sensational bursts of flavour!
Secondly - the classic french Tarte aux Moules
Cook some Mussels with some onion, garlic and white wine - strain the cooking liquor into a clean pan.
Let the Mussels cool and remove them from their shells, then arrange in the pastry case.
Reduce the cooking liquor in a pan, until only a few strongly flavoured spoonfuls remain, then mix into the egg/cream mixture along with a handful of chopped parsley - pour over the mussels and bake as per a normal quiche.
The end result should be intensely flavoured - very decadent!
Hi Wayfarer-Interesting variations there, I’ve never tried a version with mussels but it sounds intriguing. The first is a little more time intensive than buying proscuitto but I appreciate that it would be quite sensational!
i love your use of tomatoes to bejewel the already-gorgeous quiche. very decorous indeed.
I made my first quiche last night using your method and crust recipe. The cream cheese makes it incredible. As for filling, I did fresh spinach, tomato, green onion, ham and cheese (mozzarella and parmesan because it’s what I had, but feta would have been nice). Turned out great!
Hi grace-Thanks, that was M’s idea, I loved the red jewels and fluffy white snowballs via the danish feta
Hi Brittany-That’s great! I’m so glad to hear that, the cream cheese makes all the difference. The filling sounds great too
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[...] are just made for picnics and tarts and quiches are one of them. Earlier, I gave a recipe for a Picnic Quiche where you can make your own meltingly good quiche crust. You could of course use the same pastry [...]
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