Leek & Goat Cheese Quiche

Spinach & pine-nut, Lorraine, ham & broccoli, roasted red pepper and goat cheese are all flavors of quiche that I love.

Quiche is more often than not, loaded with saturated fat. Take the rich-buttery crust, which is then filled with a custard base with far too much cream, full-fat milk and to top it off tons of cheese.

I tone down the fat in my quiche by using a mixture of unsweetened soy milk and water; I also use very strong mature (sharp) cheese, if required – that way, you only need a tiny bit. There's a natural rich creaminess to the egg custard from the duck eggs I use. You can slim down the recipe further by using layers of unbuttered filo- (phyllo-) pastry for the crust. {I will be posting the slimmed down version of this quiche later.}

Making quiche with a short-/pie crust is VERY rare for me - but I made a batch of short-crust pastry a few weeks ago, and it’s been sitting in my freezer dying to be whipped up into something delicious, so here goes...


LEEK & GOAT CHEESE QUICHE
Makes one 9-inch quiche, with 6-8 slices.

Ingredients
½ t oil
230 g (½ lb) leek (a largish leek) - white and green parts, topped, tailed, finely sliced on a diagonal bias, rinsed and drained well
230g (½ lb) short-crust pastry (preferably homemade)
4 large chicken eggs OR 3 duck eggs
175 ml (¾ c) milk
175 ml (¾ c) water
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. In a medium frying pan, sauté the leeks in the oil until done, then set aside to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

3. Roll out the pastry thin enough to line the quiche dish. Press into the corners of the dish, then trim off the excess with a sharp knife.

4. In a jug, beat together the eggs, water and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Distribute the leeks and goat cheese evenly over the pastry case (pie crust), then slowly pour over the egg custard mix.

6. Pop the dish into the middle of the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, before rotating the dish by 180 degrees. Continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the egg custard is puffy, golden and the custard is set (doesn’t wobble).

7. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!