Quiche Lorraine (and short cut pastry)

Quiche Lorraine

I hadn't tried this recipe up until today because I was always a bit scared of making pastry from scratch! I have no idea why, maybe its the rolling out and attempting to place it on the tray without having a disaster.  So I was actually very surprised at how easy this was!

I did think at first that there wouldn't be anywhere near enough pastry for my quiche tin. I had to go and buy one today because I have never needed one before! So when i saw how little pastry the recipe made I was doubtful it would fill the tin. It was enough though, but it was quite a thin crust. Next time I make it I think i might make 50% more pastry to make it easier to put into the tin, and a little thicker.

Short crust pastry

The pastry was very easy to work with and easy to roll out. I used my silicon baking mat (pictured) and didn't need to add extra flour to that or the rolling pin. It didn't fall apart when I picked it up either, even though it was rolled out quite thin. It did take me a while to push it about the tin to cover it evenly along the bottom and sides.

I decided to blind bake it for 10 minutes before adding the filling, as suggested in the tips. I think I might not have put enough holes in it with a fork, because it puffed up a fair bit, but it sunk again when I took it out after the 10 minutes. Maybe next time I might put some pastry weights on it.

Blind-baked short crust pastry case

I used pre-diced bacon from the deli section of the supermarket. It wasn't particularly fatty, so I used about 10g of olive oil. It burnt a little on the bottom of the TM bowl, so next time I will probably buy some bacon and dice it up myself, or add a little more oil.

The rest of the filling was easy to make, just whack all the ingredients in, give it a mix and then pour over the bacon in the blind bake pastry case. The filling came just about right up to the top of the case, then when i added the cheese I thought it might overflow. I managed to get it into the oven without spilling it though.

Baked Quiche Lorraine

Once the quiche was finished cooking I let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it. It doesn't look quite as neat as the one in the book - I am guessing that one was sliced when cold. The kids absolutely loved it. My seven year old stated "this is the best pie ever" and "I love it!" and "Can I have another piece?!". Then he asked for a third piece! My 5 year old had a second helping too, and he is not a huge dinner eater. So i am definitely onto a winner here! And I am so excited that my pastry worked! Yay!!!

Happy thermomixing!