Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Quiche with Cream Cheese Pastry


This quiche has a tender cream cheese pastry and a rich ham and cheese filling. The pastry is made in a food processor and pressed into the pie plate (no rolling out required). Other ingredients, such as sliced mushrooms, corn kernels or tomato slices could be added to the filling. We serve this quiche hot or warm, with a salad.

We use a 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

125g cream cheese
125g butter, chopped (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon fine table salt with the butter)
190g (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
160g shaved leg ham, finely chopped
150g (1 1/2 cups, firmly packed) grated tasty cheddar cheese
5 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
62ml (1/4 cup) cream
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place cream cheese and butter in a food processor and beat on low speed until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Scrape down sides of processor. Add flour and process just until mixture starts to clump together.

Grease a 24cm diameter pie plate and line the base with a circle of baking paper. Using your fingers, press the pastry over the base and sides of the pie plate.

Refrigerate while preparing filling.

Adjust the oven rack to the lowest shelf position. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (not fan forced). © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Using a fork or whisk, beat eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl until combined.

Sprinkle about half the grated cheese over the base of the pastry case.

Sprinkle with half the chopped onion and cover with the chopped ham.

Sprinkle with the remaining onion and cheese. Pour over the egg mixture.

Place quiche on the lowest shelf in the oven (being close to the bottom element will help brown the pastry base) and cook for about 50 minutes, or until the filling is golden and set. Set aside for five minutes to firm up before slicing. Store any leftover quiche in the refrigerator. Suitable to reheat.
© www.exclusivelyfood.com.au


20 Comments:

Blogger Almost Vegetarian said...

Haven't made a quiche in ages, but, you know, I wanted something nice - fast, easy, filling - for dinner today and this looks like it will hit the spot. thanks!

29/3/07 4:35 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What an easy way to light up my rainy afternoon! I'll sure cook this quiche for my family.

Kisses from Spain

31/3/07 4:06 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know when you made your recipes printable without the ads but thank you.

13/4/07 5:34 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you guys are great, i looked at some of your recipes and they look so real, and have made the shepards pie and everyone went yumO!! Its just so simple and practical, I looked up and went this has to be australian - no fuss + tasty and I saw the .....au in the address bar and was happy!!

3/5/07 2:22 pm  
Blogger Therese said...

what a fantastic blog. I just found this and had a go today at your zucchini slice. I will be back for more recipes.

Thanks
Therese

3/5/07 7:09 pm  
Blogger Charlie said...

How hot should the oven be?

From an aussie in denmark.. I thank you for the treats from home!!

7/6/07 3:31 am  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Charlie

We bake this quiche at 190 degrees Celsius (not fan-forced).

7/6/07 6:45 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This quiche looks fantastic! The fact I don't have to worry about rolling out the pastry is genius. Only thing is, I have a fan forced oven - am I still able to bake the quiche without the pastry going soggy?

22/4/08 7:01 pm  
Blogger Dizzy said...

Thankyou for a wonderful website!
Any chance of a cookbook in the near future?
Makes such a change from "celebrity chef recipes, that none can find the ingredients to.
I am saved!!

28/5/08 3:40 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

We cook this quiche in a ceramic pie dish and find that the pastry browns better with the top and bottom oven elements on and the fan off. For a fan-forced oven, we would reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees Celsius and cook the quiche in a non-stick metal pan to help the pastry brown and prevent sogginess.


Hi Dizzy,

Thanks for your feedback on our site. We don't have any plans for a cookbook in the near future.

13/6/08 12:57 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was looking for quiche recipes and found the couple on this site that sound fantastic. Only thing is the descriptions about bottom and top elements in the stove. I assume you are talking about an electric oven. What about gas?

14/7/08 12:53 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Anita,

Yes, we were referring to an electric oven. Unfortunately, we don't have much experience with gas ovens. How do you usually cook pastry items in your oven? Do you have any difficulty getting the pastry to brown evenly?

16/7/08 6:55 pm  
Blogger Nandini Gopal said...

we don't eat ham at home.. how can i alter this recipe to use chicken ??

19/8/08 8:40 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Nandy

You could replace the ham with the same quantity of shaved cooked chicken (from a delicatessen) or roast chicken.

22/8/08 12:35 pm  
Blogger Hilary said...

This was fantastic, made it last night, so so simple, I actually cooked off the bacon and onion before baking. The pastry was superb def a keeper this one. Thanks

14/11/08 11:22 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello,
Is it possible to use one of the various reduced fat cream cheeses available? Some are up to 80% reduced fat, others, tasting much nicer, are around 60% less fat.
Thanks,
A

5/1/09 2:32 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

We haven't tested this recipe with reduced-fat cream cheese, so we aren't sure how well it would work. If you try it, please let us know how the pastry turns out.

9/1/09 8:01 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amanda and Debbie, is the quiche suitable to freeze?

13/2/09 3:19 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Although we have never frozen the quiche, we can't see any reason why it wouldn't be suitable to freeze. We will freeze some next time we make it and report back.

23/2/09 11:04 pm  
Anonymous Jira said...

i made this for the new year's eve dinner. great success!!!

6/1/11 4:17 am  

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