Quiche Lorraine

A clever way to get little French children to eat their spinach!

I love a good quiche the problem is no one seems to know how to make a good quiche.  So I decided to make it myself.

The most famous quiche is a Quiche Lorraine and I have been trying to perfect it for some time now. Finally hit upon the perfect blend of cream eggs and milk so decided to share!

Ingredients

Short crust pastry dough

Flour (maida) - 200 gms

Butter - 100 gms 

Eggs - 1

Filling

Cream - 200 ml

Milk - 100 ml

Eggs - 5 

Bacon - 1 pkt (about 10 slices)

Cheese - 200 gms (I just use a regular Indian cheese)

Spinach - 1 bundle

Onion - 1 small

Garlic - 2 cloves

Nutmeg - freshly ground to taste

Salt - to taste

Pepper - freshly ground to taste

Putting it all together!

Dough

Rub together the flour and cold butter till it resembles bread crumbs the process is called 'sablage' in French which comes from the French word 'sable' which means sand so it literally means 'sanding it'. Add a cold beaten egg and just about bring the dough together do not over work the dough. Form into a ball, flatten and wrap in a cling wrap and put into the fridge for 30 mins.

Roll between two sheets of cling wrap till about 2 mm thick. Carefully tuck into a tart tin and blind bake for 20 mins. Blind baking is basically baking the tart in the oven without a filling but because it has egg and can rise you need to weigh it down. I line the tart with a baking sheet and weigh it down with channa/rajma. These can be used later. 

Filling

In the meanwhile sauté the onions and garlic and add the spinach and cook for a few minutes till the spinach has wilted. Chop and cook the bacon till it turns a nice dark pink. Mix the eggs, milk, cream and grated cheese together till it is a smooth and creamy mix. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and then add the bacon. Be careful not to over season and remember there is lots of salt in the bacon as well as the cheese. 

Remove the tart from the oven and carefully take out the channa/rajma filled parchment paper. Spread the spinach mix at the bottom of the tart and pour the cream mix on top. Cook for 30-40 mins till the custard has set and the crust is slightly golden brown.

This can be eaten cold as well as warm with a nice fresh salad.