Weekend Herb Blogging - Silverbeet Ricotta Quiche

Spring has finally sprung. It's been slow coming this year. We've had the coldest and wettest September in years in Melbourne... the water storage dams increased from below 30% to almost 50%. Yes, Melbournian is quite obsessed with weather and the water shortage/drought situation. And I'm so obsessed that I can't help starting the blog with this:)

I'm always fascinated by how lifes begin and Spring sure makes it obvious what warmth can do in terms of life creation. Our plants in the garden just spring back to life once Spring starts. The vegies and herbs seems to grow inches and inches everyday.

I also came across a blogging event called Weekend Herb Blogging from this blog. Perfect timing, I think it might be a good idea to submit this blog as part of Weekend Herb Blogging. This will be the first blogging event I participate. So, I'm getting a bit excited. For more details of the post participating in this blogging event, you can visit this logomachia.blogspot.com blog.

Our garden produces are doing so well. The silverbeet is almost as high as my knees and just asking to be picked and eaten. We are also having S' mum over for lunch. Umm, what's for lunch, I'm sure silverbeet and ricotta quiche will make a perfect light lunch for us.

I used the shortcrust pastry recipe from Michel Roux's  Pastry: Savory and Sweet. I love this book. The instructions are very clear and well illustrated. It is very easy to follow and produces the yummiest pastries ever:).  Plus, the book also gives instructions for working by hands. I love making pastry and bread by hand rather than a mixer. It feels like I am really creating something:)

I used the Pate Brisee recipe for the quiche base. You can find the recipe in this link http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/RECIPES/RECIPES/BREADS_TWO/pastry_dough/pate_brisee.html.  The recipe produces about 450g. I used about 300-350g for the above 25cm silverbeet quiche. I kept the left-over pastry in the freezer and will use it for blueberry or strawberry tart next weekend. The pastry is quite versatile. It can be used for both sweet and savory.




I worked the pastry by hand following the instructions and it was good fun.
You can also use food processor to mix the dough.

 

Here goes recipe for silverbeet and ricotta quiche.....

Note: you can also substitute silverbeet with spinach (fresh or frozen)

Ingredients

350g  Pâte Brisée (left at room temp for about 5 mins before using)

half a bunch of silverbeet (about 8 big leaves), chopped coarsely

1 medium brown onion, chopped finely

1-2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

4 eggs (large)

125 ml cooking cream (35% fat, or you can use milk as a lower fat option)

100g ricotta cheese

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)

pinch of salt (about 1 teaspoon)

pinch of pepper

METHOD

Preheat oven to 190c/210c (convection/conventional).

Roll the pastry to about 3mm thickness and large enough to cover 23cm or 25cm tart tin. You can use your tin to measure the pastry. The pastry should be about 5 - 7 cm bigger than your tin (depending on how deep your tin is)

Line the tart tin with the pastry. You can use the rolling pin to help lining the tin by rolling the pastry onto the rolling pin and lifting the pastry into the tin.

Chill the pastry for at least 20 mins. This is to prevent shrinking when baked.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and prick the base all over with fork.

Blind-bake the pastry at 190c for 15 mins. ( i.e. line the pastry tin with non-stick baking paper and fill the pastry tin with either beans, raw rice or pie weight)




Silverbeet in the garden and pastry is ready for blind-baking

 

Take the pastry out of the oven and remove pie weight. Reduce the oven temperature to 170c/190c (convection/conventional). Bake the pastry for another 5 minutes.



In the meantime, heat olive oil in a pan and cook onion in the pan over medium high heat until they are soften. Add silverbeet to the pan and cook until they are wilted.

Whisk eggs, cream, parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper together in a bowl until well-combined.

Line baked pastry with cooked onion and silverbeet and pour egg mixture over silverbeet. Scatter pieces of ricotta on top of the quiche.

Bake at 170c/190c (convection/conventional) for 20 mins or until the top is brown slightly and the quiche is firm.

And there you have it...a simple and reasonably healthy lunch, silverbeet and ricotta quiche.

I serve the quiche with lettuce (home-grown), avocado, pine nut salad with balsamic vinegar  & olive oil dressing, then grate the parmesan cheese on top.

We all love this dish. The salad with balsamic dressing matches really well with the quiche. I also love the pastry base. It's so flaky and delicate...just melt in my mouth.

Do try:)...I love to know how you go with recipe and will love to see the photos or comments.

I'm sure you can do it .... at home!!!