BUTTERNUT QUICHE (WITH ASHLEY'S TWIST)

This weekend I thought I would give baking a quiche a go. It's not something I had done that often and as it was a bright and sunny weekend I thought it would be great served cold for dinner. I mentioned this to my friend Ashley who told me about how when her family makes a quiche they puts layer of onion chutney between the pastry and the filling. That to me sounded yum and I call this recipe "Ashley's Twist" as a thank you to her for the delicious idea!

This quiche is packed with yummy roasted butternut squash and onions with a great low(er) cal egg filling to bind it all together which makes this a great treat for the dieters out there. Using creme fraiche instead of cream does make the filling quite bland unless you season really well so don't be shy with the salt and pepper. The onion chutney layer then ties everything together and really lifts the flavor of the quiche to something quite special.

This recipe shows you how to make everything from scratch. However feel free to use a ready made shortcrust pastry and a pre-made onion chutney too to save time if you need too. Trust me though - if you spend a good Saturday afternoon making everything from scratch then you will defiantly taste the difference.

Butternut Squash Quiche

For The Pastry

250g Plain Flour

125g Cold Cubed Butter

1 Tbsp Dried Thyme

2 Egg Yolks

Pinch Of Salt 

For The Chutney

2 Chopped Red Onions

1 Grated Clove Of Garlic

1 Knob Of Butter

1 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp Red Wine

For The Filling

2 Chopped Red Onions

1 Butternut Squash Cut Into Cubes

1 Grated Clove Of Garlic

2 Eggs

1 Egg White

100g Creme Fraiche

100g Milk

Plenty Of Salt and Pepper To Season

1. Begin with the pastry. Weigh out your flour in a bowl and then add the cubed butter With cold hands, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the thyme and mix it through the crumbs.
2. Add in the egg yolks and bring the dough together with your hand. If the dough is not coming together properly add in a tbsp of cold water at a time until it does.
3. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in cling film. Place in the fridge to firm up.
4. Into a saucepan on a medium heat, add the 2 chopped onions, garlic and butter and cook for around 20 minutes, stirring regularly until the onions are soft. If the onions begin to stick to the pan, turn down the heat and add a smidge bit more of butter to loosen them up.
5. After the 20 minutes, add the sugar, red wine vinegar and red wine and on a low heat, simmer for around 15-20 minutes until all
   
   the liquid has reduced away and you are left with some beautiful sticky onions. Take off the heat and leave to one side.
6. Take the pastry out your fridge and roll out nice and thinly to fill the base and sides of a 20cm pie tin, ideally loose bottomed. Make sure there are no holes in the pastry as you don't want the quiche filling to seep through later.
7. Trim all over hanging edges with a knife and then place back in the fridge. Start to pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees (160 fan) whilst you make a start on the filling.
8. In a lightly oiled frying pan warmed on a medium heat, chuck in your red onions and fry for around 5 minutes until they are beginning to go soft before adding the squash and garlic and frying for a further 8 minutes until you can just stick a knife right through a piece of squash. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
9. Now take your pastry from the fridge and prick the base a couple of times with a fork before covering with baking paper and tipping in a tub of baking beans. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
10. Whilst the pastry is blind baking, take the whole eggs and the extra egg white, creme fraice and milk and whisk together in a bowl before seasoning well with salt and pepper. Leave to one side.
11. After the 20 minutes of blind baking, take out the pastry, remove the beans and leave to one side to cool for about 15 minutes. Take this time to make yourself a cup of tea. You've done lots of work so far. You deserve it!
12. So after your cup of tea and the 20 minutes rest your ready to build the quiche. Spread the onion chutney evenly across the base of the chutney making sure you spread right up to the edges.
13. Next tip in the onion and squash mix and make sure you get an even spread of veg across the base. 
14. Pour over the milk mixture until it just reaches the top of the pastry. Its OK if you don't use all the milk or if it doesn't cover all the veg. The veg that sticks out the top gives it delicious appearance which will make it look absolutely scrummy.
15. Put the quiche back in the oven for around 30 minutes until the filling looks set with the faintest bit of a wobble in middle if you give it a little jiggle.
16. Remove from the oven and allow to cool inside the tin before removing from the tin and transfer to a wire rack. Leave on the base though, this will make it easier to slice your quiche up later.

Serve straight away if you like it hot or if your like me wait until your quiche is nice and cold and serve with a nice spring salad. I must also say - this tastes so much better on the second day. But then again, so do most foods.

Give it a go today and why not try different veg or maybe a different time of chutney on the base.

Discovering your own twists on classic dishes is one of the joys of cooking. Get in the kitchen and create your own "Ashley's" today!