Blackberry, Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Quiche
I knew I’d stored away some plump blackberries in my freezer that I’d picked from a small bush I have in the garden.
The bush isn’t a large one, and it’s not that reliable when it comes to the amount of fruit it yields, but a few berries every day soon add up, and I was left with a big bag of the black jewels frozen in my freezer.
Obviously, I made the usual small amounts of jam and a couple of desserts, but that still left enough for this Blackberry, Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Quiche!
Does it sound a little odd, the flavour combination?
Maybe, but honestly, it’s a revelation.
The blackberries, although definitely there to be tasted, don’t overwhelm the quiche with their flavour characteristics, they melt into the topping when cooked leaving small pools of juice ready to be released when warmed in the mouth.
Creamy goats’ cheese, tart caramelised onion and the purple juice pools, not just an amazing flavour, but it also looks so pretty too!
Ideally, you’ll need a loose bottomed, fluted quiche tin for this, around 23cm, but I don’t remember my Mum ever having one of those.
For her, it was always a shallow Pirex dish and no pre baking the pastry either.
Non of us seemed to mind and openly embraced the soft under belly of the open pie.
I guess my point here is, if you’re ok with a little bit of a soggy bottom, and I don’t mind it at all, don’t go rushing out to buy a loose bottomed tin.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Not just a pretty face!
What You Need
Pastry
280g plain Flour
150g Cold Butter – Cut into cubes
Pinch of Salt
Cold Water – See Tip Box
Margarine for Tin Preparation
Flour for Tin Preparation and Rolling Out
Don’t worry if the pastry is a little patched.
Filling
120g Soft Goats Cheese – See Tip Box
100g Blackberries – Fresh or frozen – See Tip Box
1 Large Red Onion – Thinly Sliced
1 Large Handful of Rocket
5 Large Eggs
200ml Double Cream
250ml Milk – See Tip Box
Oil for frying
Salt & Pepper
Layer after layer of flavour
How It’s Done
Place the flour and salt into a food processor and give it a blitz.
Add the butter one piece at a time until it’s all added.
Let the food processor keep going until it all comes together – this could take anywhere up to 10 minutes.
Once it has started to look like a dough, slowly start to add tablespoons of the cold water (one at a time) until it comes together into a soft but firm dough.
Wrap in cling film and set aside for 10 minutes to rest.
Heat the oven to 180c – See Tip Box
Place an oven tray into the hot oven to heat up
Prepare the tin by covering the inside of it with a thin layer of margarine – See Tip Box
Use some flour to dust the inside of the greased tin, making sure to get it everywhere.
Cut out a circle of non-stick baking parchment for the bottom of the tin.
After the dough has rested, dust the work surface with a little flour.
Remove the dough from the cling film and roll it out as thin as you are able so that it fits the prepared tin with about 1-1 ½ inch overhang.
Lay it carefully into the prepared tin, and gently encourage it into the side flutes. – See Tip Box
Place a layer of foil over the pastry and then pour in some baking beans or dried rice grains to cover the bottom.
Place the tin with the pastry onto the hot oven tray and bake for 10 minutes
Take it out of the oven, remove the foil and baking beans and replace the pastry back into the oven for a further 7-10 minutes until the pastry is a pale golden colour.
Set the pastry aside until needed.
Place the thinly sliced red onion into a frying pan on a medium heat.
Let the onion cook until it breaks down and become translucent in colour.
Keep cooking the onion until it becomes very soft and begins to turn a deep golden colour around the edges.
Take the onion out of the pan and drain on a piece of kitchen paper.
Set it aside until needed.
Break the eggs into a bow or jug, beat them with a fork for a few minutes to loosen them up and scramble them.
Add the salt, pepper, the cream and the milk and beat together really well. Set aside until needed
Cover the bottom of the partly cooked pastry case with rocket.
The layer of the caramelised red onion is next.
Scatter over the blackberries
Tear up the goats cheese and scatter over the berries.
Pour half of the egg mixture into the dish.
Open the oven door and pull the hot tray half way out of the oven
Place the quiche onto the tray and gently pour the rest of the liquid into the case until the mixture is almost at the top.
Place all the way back in the oven, close the door and let it bake for around 20-25 minutes until the quiche is cooked but still has a very slight wobble in the centre. – See Tip Box.
Once cooked, let it rest and cool for around ten minutes before gently running a thin blade or palette knife between the pastry and the sides of the tin to loosen it, and removing it to a serving plate. – See Tip Box
Finish filling the quiche in the oven
Tip Box
Water – I’ve not added how much water is needed for the pastry, it definitely varies, so add it a table spoon at a time, just in case.
Goats Cheese – If the pack of cheese is larger than 120g, add it all to the quiche. It just gets more indulgent
Blackberries – Use either fresh or frozen blackberries. If frozen, defrost and drain completely first.
Milk – I used semi skimmed, but if you want to keep it blank based, then that will work really well.
Oven – All ovens are different so adjust the cooking time accordingly
Tin Preparation – When greasing the tin with margarine, make sure to get right into the flute sides.
Pastry – If the pastry rips when placing the pastry into the prepared tin, don’t worry, just patch it up with bits of leftover dough so there is no way for the filling to escape.
Remove from tin – A trick to removing the quiche from the tin is to place a flat plate, larger than the tin, over the tin and turn it upside down - make sure you’ve released it by using a knife to loosen the sides first.
One slice or two?
