How do I make a quiche?

[NuzzleandScratch]

I'm aiming to use up some food in my fridge (spinach, mushrooms, red onion, eggs, cheese), and am hoping I can make a quiche! Never made one before, but I have ready to roll shortcrust pastry. I know I need to bake the crust first, but can I do this without baking beans? (I don't have any). A basic step by step guide would be great!

[MrsCosmopilite]

I don't have baking beans so I just bake the pastry case for about 15mins on a reasonably low temperature. Enough to make it firm to the touch - so you can't mark it with your fingernail by pressing gently.

I'd go with layering the contents - onion, then mushroom, then spinach, mix the eggs with a little milk/cream or sour cream, pour over, add grated cheese.

I can't offer a step-by-step because my attitude to cooking is very much of the 'chuck it all in a pot' school!

[NuzzleandScratch]

No that's great, thank you! What sort of temp & for how long do you bake the finished article? Also, approx how many eggs for a standard size quiche?

[MrsCosmopilite]

I usually use 2 eggs, and cook on Gas Mark 4 for about 20 minutes. However, it does depend on how hot your oven gets, and where you put the quiche.

Don't forget to bung in some herbs for a bit of added pizzazz.

I usually check my quiche after about 15 minutes. Basically, if the egg mixture is still wobbly, it's not cooked enough. If it looks as though it might burn a bit on top (particularly if you have spinach poking out of the mix) then shove a bit of foil over it loosely.

[NuzzleandScratch]

That's great, thank you! Good tip about the herbs. I'll give it a whirl!

[NuzzleandScratch]

That's great, thank you! Good tip about the herbs. I'll give it a whirl!

[MrsCosmopilite]

Hope it's successful :)

[21mealspluscake]

I second MrsCosmopolite's suggestion but I'd wilt the spinach first in a hot pan then cool it and squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then I'd slice and fry the mushrooms till they give up all their liquid otherwise you might find the quiche is to wet and just swims rather than sets

[NuzzleandScratch]

Thanks, I was going to wilt the spinach, but good tip about the liquid, that could have gone badly wrong!

[sharond101]

I love quiche and had one a a conference the other day which was the most delicious thing ever. The egg mixtre tasted like really smooth and moist scrambled egg rather than dry and grainy like so many others I have had. I've never made one before so maybe that's how a homemade one tastes?

[MoreBeta]

I dont use baking beans I use 1p pieces - got that tip from Heston. They work better as the copper in the 1p conducts heat. Obviously you still need to put baking paper in as a liner to blind bake

Thyme is good as a herb in cheese and ham quiche. Brocolli and Stilton is great but chop up tough stalks very small and keep trimmed florets whole.

James Martin has a very good Quiche Lorraine recipe. I use the cream/egg mixture in the recipe as my basic quiche filling and then just miss out the tomato and put in whatever else I happen to think of. Used an old pepper and a nearly out of date goats cheese and a grated bit of old dry parmesan the other day. It was superb.

[NuzzleandScratch]

Thanks for the tips, it came out pretty well for a first attempt! I used ready made shortcrust, and used baking paper weighted down with rice, which seemed to work. Does anyone know if the rice would still be edible after this? It seemed sort of crispy, so I binned it. The pastry shrank down a little at the rim, does anyone know why this is? Was I supposed to leave it to rest after rolling or something? The filling tasted nice, although could have done with more cheese I think. I used 2 eggs, but this wasn't quite enough, so had to add another one, which I obviously didn't beat too well, as I ended up with a blob of white on the top, but it all cooked, so no bother! I cooked the finished article for 30 mins at 160, which cooked it all through.

[tb]

Too much cheese can cause a quiche to separate. If you want it to be 'cheesier' you could always scatter some more grated cheese over the top before putting it in the oven.

The shrinking down in the tin can be reduced by chilling the rolled out/filled tin in the fridge for at least 30 mins before putting in the oven.