Broccoli quiche recipe

Make a budget broccoli quiche like our mummy blogger Anneliese, who says: 'A quiche is such a great frugal meal as you can make one large quiche and get two meals out of it. Perhaps any leftovers could be put into lunchboxes too. It's far cheaper to make your own pastry but, if time is limited, simply use readymade shortcrust pastry to speed up the process! This is a very simple recipe.'

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 125g unsalted butter, plus a little more for greasing
• 250g plain flour
• 3tbsp cold water to bind

(or approximately 250g readymade pastry)

For the filling:

• Oil or butter, for frying
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• 1 large head of broccoli, florets only
• 120ml full-fat milk
• 3 large eggs
• 85g cheese, grated

You will also need:

• 10inch tin or pie dish

Method

1. Lightly grease your tin or pie dish. Weigh the flour into the bowl and add the butter (sliced into small cubes), then use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Use a blunt knife to stir in the water, a few drops at a time. Stop when the mixture starts to clump together. Gather the dough up into a ball and knead lightly for a few seconds.
3. Place the pastry between two pieces of cling film (this means you won’t risk adding more flour to the dough). Roll the dough out until it is about 3mm (1/8in) thick, then carefully transfer the pastry to your tin. Be sure to peel away the cling film! Shape the pastry to fit the tin and gently press into the corners.
4. To avoid a dreaded soggy bottom, blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling. Simply place a piece of greaseproof paper on top of the pastry case and fill with baking beans, uncooked rice or beans. Cook in the oven, at 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 for around 20-30 minutes. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper before adding the filling.
5. Now it's time to turn your attention to the filling! First of all you will need to heat a little oil in a frying pan and gently cook the onion until soft, around 10 minutes.
6. While the onion cooks, chop up the broccoli; be sure to use just the florets and to slice into tiny pieces. This means you won’t need to pre-cook it, yay!
7. Spread the onion in the bottom of the pastry case, add the broccoli and sprinkle half of the cheese over it.
8. Beat together the eggs and milk. Pour the egg mixture over the onion, broccoli and cheese, then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
9. Turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4, place the quiche into the oven and cook for around 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling has set and the cheese is golden brown.