Mushroom and Zucchini Quiche
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: French
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8 servings
 
Ingredients
For short-crust pastry:
  • All-purpose flour – 220 gms (1 & ⅔ cup)
  • Unsalted butter – 140 gms (10 tbsp), chilled and cut into small cubes
  • Granulated white sugar – 1 tbsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Ice water – 4 to 5 tbsp
For the filling:
  • Zucchini – 1, medium
  • Button mushroom – 500 gms
  • Onion – 1, medium
  • Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves
  • Olive oil – 2 tbsp
  • Salt and pepper to taste
For the custard:
  • Eggs – 4
  • Fresh cream – 1 cup
  • Milk – ¾ cup
  • Grated smoked cheddar cheese – ¾ cup
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the pie crust:
  1. I used a 2-piece tart pan for making quiche. The tart pan has a removable base which separates from the side ring easily (which is why it is called 2-piece!). One the quiche is baked all you have to do is to take out the side ring and serve. Lightly grease the tart pan, both the base and the sides with butter or non-stick spray and set aside.
  2. In your food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and pulse few times until combined. If you don’t have a food processor, use a whisk to combine.
  3. Next add the butter and process again using the pulse button until the mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse breadcrumbs for about 15 seconds. If there are some bigger pieces of butter left out, don’t worry about it; it will make the pie crust tastier.
  4. Then add the ice water but one tablespoon at a time. You may not need all the water. Stop adding water as soon as the dough starts to clump together when pinched. You are not looking for a solid ball of dough. Make sure not to over-work the dough.
  5. In case you are doing this without a food processor, mix the flour and butter using your fingers (or a pastry cutter) and not the palm as using your palm may produce heat which will melt the butter and you won’t get the perfect pie dough which has that buttery flakiness after baking.
  6. Once the butter is mixed with the flour, turn everything out on our lightly floured work-surface and gather it into a ball. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, flatten each portion into a 5 inch (12 cm) disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour or until firm enough to roll out.
  7. This quiche will need one disk of pastry dough. Once the dough is chilled enough, put it on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the pastry to fit into an 8 or 9 inch tart pan. To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll. Also, always roll from the center of the pastry to outwards to get uniform thickness. To make sure it is the right size, take your pie pan, flip it over, and place it on the rolled out pastry. The pastry should be about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than your pan.
  8. When the pastry is rolled to the desired size, lightly roll pastry around your rolling pin and dust off any excess flour as you roll.
  9. Unroll it onto the top of your pie/tart pan and gently lay it in and lightly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan using your fingertips with minimal pressure. Chill it in the refrigerator as you preheat your oven for blind-baking the pie crust.
  10. To blind bake the crust, preheat the oven to 218 degree C (425 F). Line the inside of the crust with an aluminum foil and fill it halfway up with dried beans/rice/baking weights. This will prevent the pie crust from rising.
  11. Blind-bake the pie crust at 218 C for 5 minutes.
  12. Remove the foil and weight and bake again for another 5 minutes after reducing the temperature to 160 degree C (325 F).
  13. Now you are ready to fill your pie crust with the quiche filling.
For the filling:
  1. Chop the onion and zucchini finely. Quarter the button mushrooms and grate the garlic cloves.
  2. Take a large saute pan and heat the olive oil. Tip in the grated garlic and onion. Saute until the onion is soft and translucent.
  3. Next add the chopped mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms on medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
  4. Once the mushrooms are half cooked, add the chopped zucchini. Continue to cook until everything is soft and completely cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Take out the sautéed vegetables into a bowl and set aside until you make the custard.
For the custard:
  1. Whisk together 4 eggs, cream, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Ensure to make a homogeneous mixture.
Assembling and Finishing the quiche:
  1. Preheat the oven at 160 degree C (325 F).
  2. To assemble the quiche, take the blind-baked pie crust and put it on a baking sheet as it will help to put the tart pan inside the oven and take it out once done. Also it will catch any dripping so you don’t have to worry about the oven cleaning later!
  3. Evenly spread the onion-zucchini-mushroom mixture on the base of the pie pan. Make sure to cover the base fully.
  4. Now carefully pour the egg mixture over the pie crust. I used a ladle to do this task which helps to evenly pour the custard mix.
  5. Finally sprinkle the grated cheese over the top covering the quiche all over. [Traditionally Gruyere cheese is used in Quiche recipes, but I only had smoked cheddar available in my pantry. Honestly, I loved my quiche with the cheddar; but if you wanna be hundred percent authentic, use Gruyere instead of cheddar!]
  6. Baked the filled quiche at 160 degree C for 40 to 45 minutes until the sides have set but the center is still little wobbling which will continue to cook even after you take it out of the oven.
  7. Let the quiche cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, loosen the sides of the tart pan from the prepared quiche, then place the tart pan on one hand and push the side ring downwards. It should separate from the quiche and fall on your arm and you have the beautiful zucchini mushroom quiche ready to serve.
  8. Cut the quiche in wedges and serve the delicious mushroom and zucchini quiche warm with a green salad. Enjoy!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at http://www.flavorquotient.com/2015/04/mushroom-and-zucchini-quiche/