Recipe: Asparagus and Feta Quiche

On Saturday, I went for a long walk around Liverpool city centre and gloried in the fact that spring is finally here. The sun was shining, I had my sunglasses on and – for the first time in months – I didn’t feel as though I was trapped in the depths of some hideous endless winter. I’ve lived in the North West of England long enough to know that this could all change by tomorrow, but for the moment, I’m revelling in the return of short sleeves and balmy afternoons.

Another place which is happy to see the return of spring is my kitchen. After months of opening my veg box to discover piles of root vegetables (I’m still ploughing my way through all the beetroot, carrots and parsnips), I was overjoyed to see asparagus in last week’s Abel and Cole delivery. English asparagus season is short, so I love to eat as much of it as I can while it’s here. I wanted to do something a bit more exciting than merely grilling it and serving it with hollandaise when the idea hit me to pop it into a quiche.

This quiche is inspired by two excellent female food writers, Ruth Reichl and Delia Smith. I’m currently cooking my way through Reichl’s My Kitchen Year which discusses how she used cooking as a means of coping with the grief she experienced when Gourmet – the magazine she edited for a decade – suddenly folded. Reichl’s writing can be a bit flowery at times, but she has a wonderful recipe for a basic quiche (‘a custard in a crust’ she calls it) which has been rattling around my head ever since I read it. Delia Smith is (arguably) the queen of custards and crusts, and it would be remiss of me not to credit her for some of the methodology behind this one.

A mere hour’s work in the kitchen will reward you with crisp asparagus, salty pops of feta and a gloriously wobbly, savoury custard. This quiche was made for picnics, parties and long lazy lunches in the sunshine. When was the last time you said that about a Pret sandwich?

ASPARAGUS AND FETA QUICHE (Serves 4 – 6 people)

You will need:

For the crust

• 280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• Handful of grated cheddar cheese (optional)
• A pinch of salt
• Ice water

For the filling

• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 40g feta cheese, diced into cubes
• 1 tsp grated parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs, beaten well
• 284ml single cream
• A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and Pepper to season

Make It!

1. Start by making the crust. Rub the flour and butter together until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the cheese, salt and ice water – a tablespoon at a time – until the dough comes together. It should be smooth yet tacky to the touch. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
2. When you’re ready to make the quiche, roll the dough out until it’s about the thickness of a 2p coin. Use your rolling pin to lift it up and drape it over a tart case. You want the dough to hang over the sides as it will shrink when you’re baking it. Prick the base of the dough with a fork, cover it with baking paper and fill it with baking weights. (You can get these from Lakeland, or alternatively, just use some dried beans.)  Bake on 150 degrees c for 20 minutes. Take it out, remove the weights and paint the crust with a bit of beaten egg. (You can use some of the egg you’re using for the filling.) Let it cook in the oven for another five minutes.
3. Make your filling. Snap the asparagus spears in two and remove the woody ends. Blanch them for two minutes in boiling water. You want them to be barely cooked and have plenty of snap. Arrange them and the feta cheese at the bottom of the pastry case.
4. Beat the eggs and cream together and season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour this mixture over the asparagus and feta. Sprinkle the grated parmesan over the top.
5. Bake at 200 degrees c for 30 minutes until the pastry is puffy and the filling is barely set and golden. Allow to cool and serve. This keeps well for 2 – 3 days and goes really well with a crisp green salad.

 

Courgette Carpaccio with Goats Cheese, Preserved Lemon and Chilli

I know that it’s a bit of a cliché to moan about the weather, but seriously summer, where the hell are you? I’ve been reliably informed that a heatwave is on its way, but I remain sceptical. Then again, I work in one of the rainiest parts of a rainy country, and I often wonder if it would just be cheaper to get myself laminated rather than spend another tenner on an umbrella which – inevitably – breaks.

So, I am forced to search for summer in my vegetable box. At the moment, it’s bursting with glorious green vegetables – big bunches of spinach, plump broad beans and crunchy courgettes.  Usually I like to throw them in pastas, ratatouilles and stews, but sometimes I feel like getting a bit more inventive, which is how this courgette ‘capaccio’ came about.

This isn’t a conventional carpaccio, given that it comprises vegetables rather than meat, but it’s still prepared the same way. Paper thin slices of courgette are dotted with goats cheese, preserved lemon zest (my new favourite ingredient), red chilli flakes and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Don’t have any goats cheese to hand? Ricotta or feta will do just as well. Served with a roast chicken, a hunk of bread and a glass of crisp white wine and you can almost believe that summer is here…even if you have the central heating on.

COURGETTE CARPACCIO WITH GOATS CHEESE, PRESERVED LEMON AND CHILLI (Serves two people as a side, or one person as a large salad)

A version of this recipe was originally posted on Little Red Courgette (my old blog!)

You will need:

• 2 small courgettes
• The juice of a lemon
• The peel from two preserved lemons
• 50g soft goats cheese
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• A large glug of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to season

Make It!

1. Top and tail the courgettes and slice thinly. You may wish to do this using a mandoline but I just used a sharp vegetable knife.
2. Slice the preserved lemons in half and scoop out the flesh (you can either discard this, or reserve it for another recipe.) Chop the peel finely.
3. Place the courgette rounds into a medium bowl and (carefully!) toss with the lemon peel and chilli flakes.
4. Arrange on a plate in an overlapping pattern, and dot with the goats cheese.
5. Drizzle over the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Season with the salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Carrot, Feta & Harissa Fritters with Mint-Garlic Yoghurt

Because my life is non stop glamour, I’ve come down with a nasty sinus infection. This means two things: 1) I hate everyone and everything (bar Mr. McMc who only gets a free pass because he brings Hot Chocolate and Kinder Buenos to my sickbed), 2) I am determined to beat the vile virus living in my tubes by blasting it out with industrial amounts of spice. (It also means that I’ve been unable to take pictures of my recent outfits as I’m not sure anyone’s interested in seeing pics of a mardy lass with a face full of spots, even if she *is* wearing an amazing shirt.)

In an attempt to make myself feel better (and because – allegedly – vegetables are good for you), I’ve been making plate after plate of these Carrot, Feta & Harissa Fritters with Mint-Garlic Yoghurt.  They’re a glorious hybrid of two of my favorite Carrot-and-Feta based recipes – BBC Food’s Carrot, Cumin and Feta fritters, and Smitten Kitchen’s Carrot, Feta and Harissa salad. They’re full of piquant, smoky flavours and delicious chunks of salty melted cheese which pop in your mouth. The mint- garlic yoghurt dip is a must here too – drizzled over the warm fritters, it adds another delicious element to what is already a bloody tasty dish (even if I do say so myself.)

The fritters are at their best when served fresh out of the frying pan, piping hot and wrapped up in a gigantic toasted flatbread. They don’t taste nearly as good when cold, which gives you the perfect excuse to eat a giant plate of them in one glorious gulp. They make a fantastic lunch, and an even better hangover cure (as I recently discovered the morning after a night spent necking pints of milk stout.)

CARROT, FETA AND HARISSA FRITTERS WITH MINT-GARLIC YOGHURT (This makes around three large-ish fritters.)

You will need:

• 4 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic puree
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp ground cumin (I like to toast cumin seeds and grind them in a pestle & mortar, but ground cumin powder will do in a pinch)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp harissa
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1 small onion, diced
• 50g feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Make It!

1. For the Mint-Garlic yoghurt: Combine the Greek yoghurt, chopped mint and garlic puree in a bowl. Set to one side.
2. For the Carrot, Feta & Harissa fritters: Mix the flour, egg, cumin, smoked paprika, harissa and 4 tbsp of water in a bowl until you have a smooth, thick, gloopy batter. If the batter looks a little dry, add a touch more water until all the flour has been incorporated. Add the grated carrots, onion, and feta to the bowl, along with some salt and pepper. Mix well until the vegetables and feta have been fully incorporated into the batter.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan until it starts to spit. Add heaped tablespoons of the batter into the frying pan, flatten out a little with the back of your spoon and cook for 2-3 minutes each side, until they are golden brown on each side. If you have problems getting the fritters out of frying pan, you can gently dislodge them with a palette knife. Cover the freshly cooked fritters with a tea towel once they’re done so that they stay warm while you’re using up the rest of the batter.
4. Serve the hot fritters immediately. If making these for breakfast, I tend to eat them their own with a poached egg on top. For a hearty lunch, tuck them inside some toasted flatbreads, then drizzle generously with the mint-garlic herb yoghurt. They perfectly accompany a glass of cold white wine and a fresh green salad.