Coronation Quiche 🇬🇧

 

This is my take of the Coronation Quiche, not exactly Buckingham Palace's official recipe, but delicious nonetheless, delicately flavoured with broad beans, spinach and cheddar cheese.  I am not a fan of the British royal family but acknowledge Australia's strong ties with the United Kingdom, being part of the Commonwealth to this day.  It was interesting catching glimpses of the pageantry on television while I made the quiche on King Charles' great day.  I used ready-made frozen shortcrust pastry sheets and pieced two together to fit a large quiche pan.  Feel free to make a smaller quiche and adjust the amount of filling accordingly, or make your own pastry from scratch if you like.  

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

• 2 X 25cm / 10" square shortcrust pastry sheets or 400g block of shortcrust pastry 
• 150ml / 6 fl oz milk
• 300ml / 10 fl oz thickened cream
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 150g / 5½oz  cheddar cheese, graded
• 280g / 10oz baby spinach leaves
• 200g / 7oz frozen broad beans
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Preparing the pastry case:

1. Prepare or roll out a 5mm thick pastry large enough to line the base and sides of a 25cm / 10" round loose-base quiche pan.  Lay the pastry over the quiche pan.  Using your fingers, gently press the pastry into the edges and up the side of the pan, careful not to leave any holes to avoid leakage.  Trim off any excess pastry.  Prick base of the pastry in numerous places with a fork.  Cover and let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  (You might want to watch a helpful tutorial here on how to line a fluted pan with shortcrust pastry.)
2. Line the pastry case with a crumbled piece of baking paper slightly larger than the size of the pan.  Fill the case with baking weights (or dried beans) and blind bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven until golden and dry.  Carefully remove the baking paper and the beans and return to the oven for another 5 minutes to dry the base.

Preparing the filling:

1. Place spinach leaves in a heat-proof container and blitz in the microwave oven for 1 minute on high until wilted.  Let the spinach cool slightly, then squeeze out water with your hand until quite dry.  Roughly chop and set aside.
2. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil.  Add broad beans and let it come to a boil again.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes until tender.  Drain and refresh under cold water.  Let them cool slightly before podding them.  
3. In a bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs and parsley with some salt and pepper.  

Putting it together:

1. Scatter half of the grated cheese in the blind-baked pastry case.  Top with the chopped spinach and beans, then pour over the liquid mixture.  Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
2. Place into a preheated 180°C/350°F oven and bake for 45 minutes or until set and golden.
3. Serve warm or in room temperature with a green salad or crusty bread.

Source (with adaptations):  BBC World's Table