Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche

Quiche means, simultaneously, sunny picnics in the park and comforting lunch on a cold winters day. Fresh, but warming. Light, but satisfying. It doesn't much matter the filling - bacon, broccoli, onions, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, salmon, chicken (in any combination) - in quiche-form it is sure to be a delicious, melt-in-the-mouth affair.

This is also why quiche makes such a delightful packed-lunch; it doesn't really matter what you have in the fridge, as long as you have: flour, butter, eggs, milk, cheese + something to fill it with, you're guaranteed a tasty result.

I'll admit it now, it's not a quick recipe. But once you're eating flaky homemade pastry, filled with the lightest egg, and meltiest cheese, it will be worth the work.

Anything encased in pastry also offers you the major lunch-box benefit of: durability. I can stick a big slice of quiche in my backpack wrapped in foil and it arrives at the office after it's 10 mile bicycle journey, still in one piece.

And so, onto business.

Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche

First things first, let's get everything together. We'll need:

FOR THE PASTRY
85g plain white flour
85g wholemeal flour
85g butter or margarine
2tbsp cold water
Pinch salt

TIP: I tend to use a 50:50 mix of plain white and strong wholemeal flour - for some wholesome bonus points. But you can use all-pwhite, or a mix of whatever flours you have, e.g. rye, wholemeal, oats, spelt...

FOR THE FILLING
2 eggs
1/4 pint milk
2 or 3 thick slices of mature cheddar cheese
Olive oil
A selection of the following: 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 3 or 4 chestnut mushrooms, 1/4 courgette sliced, handful of cherry tomatoes, garlic clove (unpeeled).
Herbs (such as thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary or an italian mix)



Now that everything is prepared, let's cook.

Preheat the oven to 170C (fan).

Start by prepping the dough. Put the flour, (or flours if you decide to use a mix) butter, and salt into your food processor, or a large bowl. Mix on high in the food processor, or use a spoon if you're mixing by hand. Add a couple of tablespoons of cold water if the dough is too dry, you want the dough to cone together into a ball, but it shouldnt be sticky. Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest.

Next, start work on your roasted veggies. Chop your selection of Mediterranean veggies into chunky pieces:
Onions - place the halved onion face down and cut lengthways into 1cm wedges
Peppers - de-seed the pepper, and chop into 1inch batons.
Courgettes - halve the courgette lengthways, then place the pieces face down. Slice thickly.
Mushrooms - halve the mushrooms, place face down and chop into chunky wedges.
Cherry tomatoes - halve or leave whole.
Garlic clove - whole, unpeeled, lightly crushed.

Place the veggies in a roasting tin and toss with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the herbs. Put the veggies in the bottom half of the oven to roast for around 15 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge. Flour your surface and rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a large enough round to fil your quiche dish or sandwich tin. Line the base of your dish or tin, and tidy the edges. Place a sheet of baking paper over the dough, and fill the dish with baking beans (I use dried chickpeas I happened to have in the cupboard). Place in the top half of the oven and blind bake for around 10 minutes.

Now let's make the quiche filling. Beat the eggs in a jug, and mix with the milk. Chop the slices of cheddar into dice. Place the cheddar in the bottom of your pastry shell, top wit the roasted veggies, then pour in the liquid. Place in the oven to bake for a further 15-20 minutes.