Feta, Courgette and Red Pepper Quiche

I love quiche, I think it’s underrated. Served with a simple salad, a few chunky chips and a big scoop of coleslaw, it’s the perfect lunch; and this particular one is really good. It’s light, easy to make and tasty – packed with feta cheese, peppers, courgette and herbs, sat in a bed of homemade pastry – what’s not to like?

Here in the UK we’ve been told that life should hopefully be back to near normal by July. So with everything starting to open back up again, we’re once again thinking of picnics and parties, and this recipe will be really good for that. It can be eaten hot or cold, and once cooked, a slice is quite firm, so you could easily manage to eat it off a paper plate. Just imagine sitting outside in the sunshine with friends and family, eating food off a paper plate! I can’t wait to be able to do that again.

Quiches freeze really well. Allow it to cool completely, slice it up into portions, then wrap in tinfoil or place in an airtight container and pop it in your freezer. Then you can take out individual slices to have at your convenience. I take a slice out in the morning and put it in my lunch box, and it’s defrosted and ready to eat by lunchtime. To reheat, you can pop a slice in the oven for 15-20 mins on 200c/180c fan/gas 4, or just microwave for a couple of mins, until piping hot throughout.

I like to use a mixture of plain and wholemeal flour for my pastry case, but feel free to just use plain, or ready rolled pastry, if you like.

Ready in 65-85 mins (5 mins making the pastry, 20 mins chill and prep, 40-60 mins bake) – serves 4-6.

Ingredients

• 200g of plain or wholemeal flour, or a mixture of the two
• 100g of salted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 flat teaspoon of mustard powder
• About 100mls of cold water

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• About 200g of courgette, thinly sliced
• 1 large red pepper, thinly sliced
• 200g of feta cheese, cut into cubes
• A good pinch of black pepper
• A good pinch of basil
• A good pinch of oregano
• A good pinch of mustard powder
• 2 medium free range eggs
• 200mls of milk

Method

• Put flour, butter and a flat teaspoon of mustard powder into a bowl and rub in with your fingers or pulse in a food processor until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

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• Adding a small amount of water at a time mix to a crumbly paste using a blunt knife.

• Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a ball of dough. If you feel you need more water at this stage, simply dunk your hands into cold water and continue mixing with them, rather than pouring more into your bowl and risking making it too wet. If the mixture is too wet though, sprinkle a bit of flour on top and mix in with your hands.

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• Put the dough into a buttered pie/flan dish and spread out evenly with your hands across the base and up the sides of the tin. Trim off any excess around the sides with the back of a knife and use these scraps to patch up any holes or thinner parts in the pastry.

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• Prick the base with a fork and chill for about 20 mins in the fridge.

• Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200c / 180c fan / gas mark 6.
• Lightly fry the courgette and red pepper in the oil until soft.
• Add the feta cheese, black pepper, basil, oregano and pinch of mustard powder, mix well and set aside to cool.

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• Blind bake your pastry – Sit a sheet of baking paper inside the chilled pastry case and fill it with baking beans or uncooked rice and bake for 15 mins in the oven.

• Remove the beans/rice and baking paper and bake for another 5 mins to crisp up the pastry case.

• Turn the oven down to 180c / 160c fan / gas mark 4.
• Spoon the feta, courgette and red pepper mix into the pastry case and spread out evenly.

• Beat the eggs and milk together in a jug until well mixed.
• Place your tin on to a sheet of kitchen foil to catch any leaks and pop it on the oven shelf.
• Then carefully pour the egg and milk mixture into the case.

• Bake for 40-60 mins, or until the middle is firm to touch and lightly brown.
• Serve hot or cold.

If you liked this recipe, you may also like:

Cheese and Chutney Quiche

Barbecued or Oven Baked Feta

Stuffed Peppers