In Search of the Perfect Quiche

On the way home from my recent trip to Austria we decided to stop for four days in Amsterdam.  We'd never been to Amsterdam so I had lots planned for those four days. What we ended up doing though was quite different to what I had planned... we LOVED Amsterdam... and everyday we walked along the streets and canals... we tasted cheese at Henry Willig, ate herring and stroopwafel at the Albertcuyp markets, walked and found amazing shops in little streets that you almost missed and every time we turned a corner we found ourselves looking down at another beautiful canal. And in between all the walking we would stop and eat at these amazingly tiny little cafes... once, when we were wandering down this old cobbled backstreet near the university, we found this little cafe called Hartig & Zoet:

... where we ate the most delicious leek and goats cheese quiche. Now the last time I made a quiche was a very very long time ago and it wasn't the most successful meal I've ever made! So when we returned to Australia I was determined to make a delicious quiche and perhaps in some way  relive our amazing time in Amsterdam.

For a few weeks the quiche was a work in progress.Working out how to make the pastry so it didn't taste hard and leathery was the first hurdle. After reading lots of posts( this one is pretty informative ) I realised that overkneading your dough was the most likely culprit and mixing together your ingredients quickly and lightly was all you needed to fix that problem. The next hurdle was getting the right balance of eggs, milk and goat's fetta... and I think I've found the perfect balance... well my family gave me 10/10 so I think that's pretty good.

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY

1 1/2 cups plain flour

130 gms margarine

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 tblsps lemon juice (approx)

pinch salt

pinch baking powder

FILLING

olive oil

2 leeks, white part finely sliced 

6 eggs

180 gms goat's cheese fetta

milk

METHOD

PASTRY

Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. 

Rub in margarine until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add egg yolk and enough lemon juice to mix to firm dough. 

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out to fit a 23cm quiche dish. Trim edges. Line tin with baking paper, fill with dry beans or rice and bake in moderately hot oven for 10 minutes.

Remove paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes.

FILLING 

Finely slice the white part of the leeks (I like to slice up into the dark green part just a little). 

Lightly sauté the leek in olive oil.

Crack eggs into a large measuring cup and add enough milk to make 3 cups of liquid.

Add fetta, leek, salt and pepper.

Pour into pastry case.

Bake in moderately hot oven for about 45 minutes.

For a richer taste you can use cream instead of milk and you can use any other cheese you like instead of fetta. Look here for a guide on how to change and balance your ingredients to make a delicious quiche that works every time.