mushroom & swiss quiche

A quiche is one of the easiest things to make & you can switch the flavors up depending on the mood de jour & the season. Mushroom & Swiss Quiche is whole, small mushrooms cooked in butter with a little garlic then immersed in an egg, cream & Swiss cheese mixture with a little onion & nutmeg. Encased in a pastry case – homemade or store-bought, that’s your call.

I’m including a pastry recipe with the filling but it’s not imperative to the success of the quiche. Ready-rolled, store-bought pastries are good. And they make this a quick & easy meal. Use the shortcrust variety, sold in the fridge section in the USA & Canada & in the freezer section in Australia. Or use puff pastry – in the freezer section & let it thaw in the fridge. I don’t blind-bake the pastry for this mushroom & swiss quiche.

The trick to a good quiche – if in fact there is one – is not to overload it with too much filling. Less is more. Honestly, my favorite quiche is ham & aged white cheddar cheese. So simple yet really quite fabulous & proof you don’t need much to produce a good meal, you just have to do it right. So what is right when it comes to baking a good quiche according to Lovoni. A few simple ‘rules’ if one may be so regimented to call them that:

• Use a glass pie dish. If you don’t have one then a dark, metal baking pan is your next option. But it has to be dark. Don’t use white, don’t use a light metal – such as the non-stick variety. Grease it with some melted butter or baking spray.
• There is a regular pie dish & a deep pie dish – most are 9 inches or 23 cm. For this recipe I used a deep pie dish. If you don’t have one you’ll need to adjust the recipe a little using the quantities that follow:
• 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of heavy cream (35% fat). So for a standard pie dish that’s 3 eggs to 1 1/2 cups of cream + 1/2 cup of shredded or crumbled cheese. For a deep pie dish it’s 4 eggs to 2 cups of cream & 2/3 cup of shredded or crumbled cheese
• Cook the quiche on the bottom rack in a preheated oven – don’t put the quiche into a cold oven
• Use conventional bake method in your oven. – That’s conventional, as in bog-standard. Not convection which is fan-forced.
• Let the quiche cool down before serving it. If you cut into it hot it’ll be runny. Cool to room temperature or chill overnight & it will cut perfectly. I like to let it come to room temp again before I serve it.
• Whatever you serve on the side, keep it simple. A garden salad – cucumber, onion, tomato, lettuce. Or some baby lettuce leaves or artisan lettuce leaves dressing in a little balsamic, olive oil, salt & pepper.
• Don’t overload the crust with filling. Whole mushrooms are a little different because of their size but when I make a ham quiche or spinach – my two most regular choices, I never have more than a cup of filling in total, including a little sauted onion.
• Stay away from watery ingredients such as tomatoes & when I use ingredients that do leach out water, such as spinach & mushrooms. I cook them properly – hot & quickly & give them a quick drain in a strainer.
• Add some fresh herbs if you want – thyme, parsley, dill, basil, tarragon are my top ones for quiche, but herbs aren’t imperative. I used a little fresh thyme in this recipe mainly because it doesn’t have many ingredients & it gave me a garnish for the images.

There was a saying in Australia, & perhaps here too – “real men don’t eat quiche”. I’ve also had the odd person tell me they don’t like quiche. What’s not to love? It’s eggs, cream, cheese & pastry for frigs’ sake. Maybe like any recipe, if it’s not prepared properly then it might not be nice. But quiche, when done right is a silky smooth, creamy & a somewhat decadent meal. It’s as easy AF. And, chances are there’ll be leftovers for lunch the next day. What’s not to love? Cheers for now, Lovoni xo

Here are a few other lunch or light dinner recipes to try: Goat Cheese, Zucchini & Pea Crostini; Asparagus & Salmon Frittata; Artichoke, Spinach & Feta Frittata.

Mushroom & swiss quiche

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mushroom & swiss quiche

I’ve included a pastry recipe in the notes in case you want to make the quiche crust yourself as it’s a little less money & probably a bit better for you. Making your own pastry isn’t imperative to the success of this recipe though: store-bought, ready-made pastry is quick, convenient & an easy choice. A deep, glass pie dish works best for this recipe. It’s a good idea to read through my post first before you make this recipe as you might pick up a tip or two (hopefully). This is best made about 6 hours or a day ahead & served at room temperature or cold. Don’t reheat pastry in the microwave

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time55 mins

cooling6 hrs

Total Time7 hrs 10 mins

Course: Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Australian

Keyword: quiche

Servings: 8

Author: Lovoni Walker | Fresh Hunger

Equipment

• deep 9-inch glass pie dish
• whisk
• cheese grater

Ingredients

• 1 ready-made, uncooked pie crust for a 9-inch pie (23 cm) (such as Pillsbury) best to let the crust sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before pressing it into the dish
• 2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb small brown mushrooms, stalks removed (save stalks for another use)
• a good pinch of sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream (35% fat)
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme plus extra for garnish, optional
• salad greens tossed in balsamic olive oil, salt & pepper to serve, optional

Instructions

• Arrange the oven racks so one is closest to the bottom of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a deep, 9-inch/23cm pie dish & line with the pie crust, pressing the crust gently up the side of the pan. Feel free to do a fancy edge. I didn't.
• Sprinkle half of the cheese over the base of the pie crust.
• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until onion is softened. Scrape the onion into the pie crust to cover evenly.
• Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pan over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the mushrooms, salt & pepper; cook for 2 to 3 minutes each side until browned – don’t over crowd the pan, you might have to cook these in two batches if you don’t have a large frying pan.
• Add the garlic & stir to combine. Cook the garlic 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant & softened; remove from the heat. Transfer mushrooms to a large plate lined with paper towel. Or place them in a strainer over a bowl.
• Whisk together the eggs, cream, nutmeg, thyme, if you’re using it, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a medium bowl until well combined.
• Arrange the mushrooms in the pie crust. Carefully pour in the cream mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook quiche on the bottom rack for 40 minutes or until golden brown & just set. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into wedges to serve. Serve cold or at room temperature with salad greens if desired.

Notes

Notes:
PASTRY
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups all purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup (4oz/125g) butter, cut into pieces
pinch salt
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon iced water, approximately

To make the pastry:
Combine all ingredients in the large bowl of a food processor until mixture just starts to forms a soft dough. Remove from processor & press mixture together to form a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap & chill for 30 minutes.

Roll dough on a floured, smooth surface until it’s large enough to fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Place the pastry over the dish & gently press down to fit. If any pastry tears, just patch it back together. Trim the pastry edge if necessary; cover with plastic wrap while you make the filling.

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