This spinach and corn quiche had to be made to use up some of the big batch of fresh, tender spinach from my garden. The rest went into a raw spinach salad and spinach pararthas.
Whole wheat and olive oil quiche crust
A quiche crust is meant to be a light and flaky shortcrust pastry made with cold butter and AP flour. Now, I love a flaky, buttery crust but could do without the thousands of calories that come with it. So I chose to make my quiche crust with olive oil and a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and plain flours. You can go the 100 percent whole wheat route if you like. The pastry will still turn out fine.My spinach and corn quiche turned out equally delicious even with a less flaky yet light olive oil and whole wheat crust. An olive oil crust is less fussy and quicker to turn out since there’s no butter to rub into the flour and since the dough doesn’t need chilling before being rolled out. The reduced total cooking time and a healthier dish are reasons enough to make this spinach and corn quiche.
I have taken step-by-step pictures of the quiche crust to help you make it.
Bring the dough together by combining the oil and water with the flours using a fork.
Then kneaded with a light hand, pressing the shaggy mixture together to get a ball of dough.
Roll out the dough to line an 8-inch quiche tin (loose-bottomed), prick it with a fork (to allow steam to escape while baking) and chill for 30 minute before baking it blind for 15 minutes.
Milk or cream?
The custard for the spinach and corn quiche can be made with milk or light cream or a combination of both. Using cream will yield a more luxurious, rich custard. I go with cream when I’m entertaining; quiches made for family dinners have a mix of both milk and cream in a 40:60 ratio. Two eggs, a sprinkling of parsley, salt and freshly grated black pepper get whisked into the milk and cream custard. Sometimes I even add a pinch of nutmeg. The custard helps bind the spinach and corn filling and give it body. To further enrich your spinach and corn quiche, you could also mix in grated cheese of your choice.
Spinach and corn filling
It’s simple to make the filling for the quiche. Spinach and corn are cooked with onions, garlic and herbs and a few seasonings into a thick mixture. All water from the vegetables has to be cooked out otherwise, the filling will be watery which will prevent the custard from setting. I put chilli flakes in my filling for a little zip. You can tailor the flavour of yours to your palate.
Cooking a quiche can be a tad technical and going with an olive oil crust simplifies it a little. Once you’ve got the crust down, most of the work is done. And it is one of those dishes that gets easier with practice. So practice making quiches with different fillings of your choice and you’ll see how fun it can be turning out delicious treats for your friends and family.
Spinach And Corn Quiche
Ingredients
For the quiche crust
- 138 g whole wheat flour
- 137 g all-purpose flour
- 70 ml olive oil
- 130 ml cold water
- 1 tsp salt
For the filling
- 400 g fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped
- 250 g fresh, sweet corn kernels
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 1 medium tomato, chopped (optional)
- 100 g feta cheese (optional)
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt
For the custard
- 100 ml milk
- 100 ml light cream (25% fat)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Salt
Instructions
Make the crust
- Lightly grease an 8-inch, loose-bottomed tart tin.
- In a bowl, whisk the flours with the salt.
- Pour in the olive oil and water, whisk to combine with a fork and then lightly knead to bring the dough together.
- Lightly flour the work counter and roll out the dough into a circle slightly larger ( 2-3 inches) than your tart tin. Turn the dough 45-degrees every time you roll so that you get a crust with even thickness. Sprinkle a little flour as you need, underneath, to prevent it from sticking to the surface.
- Use your rolling pin to gently lift the dough and place it in the pan. Gently tuck the edges to fit the pan and trim any overhanging pastry around the edge of the tin.
- Prick the base all over with a fork and chill the tart shell in the fridge for 30 minutes and in the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C.
- After 30 minutes, bake the the quiche crust for 15 minutes. Remove and cool while you make the filling.
Make the filling
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and saute the onions and garlic until soft.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, salt, chilli flakes and dried herbs and cook till the tomatoes get pulpy.
- Add the spinach and the sweet corn and cook till the water dries up. Cool the filling before spooning into the crust.
Assemble and bake the quiche
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Whisk the eggs with the milk, cream, pepper and salt in a bowl.
- Place the quiche crust (still in the tin) on a baking sheet and crumble the feta evenly over the base (if using).
- Fill the quiche shell with the spinach and corn mixture and then pour the custard over. Ensure no custard splashes over.
- Bake the quiche for 20-25 minutes till the custard has set and the top is puffed. Cool the quiche on a wire rack for 15 minutes before slicing.
2 Comments
Panchali Ghosh
March 26, 2022 at 10:56 pmMade it and loved it. I’ve always struggled with the crust but this recipe makes it so simple. Modified the filling a bit by adding keema.
quichentell
April 7, 2022 at 7:04 pmGood to know Panchali 😀