Well the weather has finally made a turn for the better here in the UK, not that we can go out anywhere and enjoy it, but we are lucky enough to have a nice garden, so today, we ate lockdown lunch of homemade quiche under the newly erected gazebo in said garden.

This is such a an easy dish to make, but don’t be fooled, it takes time especially if you are making the pastry from scratch.

You’ll need:

250g Plain Flour
125g very cold (almost frozen butter)
Cold Water (about 2 tablespoons)

Heath your oven to electric 160, or gas mark 3

Cut the butter into small squares, once done, put it back in the fridge or if you have space, the freezer while you weigh and sieve the flour into the bowl. Let your cold tap run for a bit, and pour appx 2 tablespoons into a small glass or jug. Pop the butter into the flour, and using just your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until you have fine breadcrumbs. Slowly add some water, not all of it, and using a fork, mix the water in. It should start to form a dough. Now you don’t want a wet dough, but you need to make sure all the that the dough forms into a ball with no crumbs. It will leave a clean bowl.

Make a ball with the pastry dough, flatten it with your hand (it will chill much quicker this way) and pop it into the freezer for 15 minutes.

Once it’s chilled, roll out and line a quiche dish with a thin layer of the pastry. Pop it back in the fridge for 30 minutes, this will stop the pastry from shrinking during the blind baking process.

Place some foil on the pastry and tip in some ceramic baking beans on top. Bake for 30 minutes, remove the beans and foil and bake for a further 20 minutes. Your pastry case should now be a pale golden colour. Don’t turn off the oven!

While the pastry is cooking, its time to prepare the filing. for this you will need

6 rashers of smoky bacon diced
1 Onion Diced
6 eggs
150ml of milk
250ml of cream I use double cream not single
100oz of cheese
Sliced cherry tomatoes, around 9 slices

Fry the bacon and onions together on a low heat until browned. While this is happening, whisk up the eggs and add the milk and cream and some seasoning. (try not to add too much salt as the bacon will provide a delicious smoked saltyness).

Add the cooked onion and bacon to the eggs and stir. Take half the cheese and mix into the egg mixture. Using a ladle, pour the mixture into the pastry case, trying not to get any liquid between the pastry and the dish. Fill till level to the top sprinkle the remaining cheese over and place the tomato slices on top.

Cook in the oven until the egg is set and the cheese is golden brown. Serve with a delicious salad!