Simple but delicious Garden Green Quiche

I always get requests to share easy and classic recipes to my readers, so that they can try them and enhance their culinary skills; here is a simple and classic recipe of quiche. Also with the schools re-opening for their new terms, this can be a perfect recipe for the kid’s lunch boxes. Quiche is the food that we may associate with classical French cuisine, but actually it has German origins — the word comes from the German word “kuchen,” which simply means cake. It is thought to have originated in medieval kingdom under German rule, which was later renamed “Lorraine” from ‘Lothringen” by the French. Quiche is a pastry food cooked in oven and is commonly eaten as a savoury food. In simple words, quiche is an open-faced savoury pie with a filling enriched and thickened with cream and egg. The bottom crust was initially made with bread dough but later on evolved to short crust pastry or puff pastry. Quiche became popular in England after the World War 2 and in the USA in the 1970s. Quiche can be made in a variety of styles, fillings, flavours and ingredients depending on one’s choice and the availability of ingredients. I must say that the most common quiche is the spinach and cheese which is humble yet so exotic that the name itself is enough to fill your mouth with water. The best thing about quiches is that you can eat them warm, cold or at room temperature, and they are usually eaten for brunch or lunch. You’ll often find smaller quiches eaten as finger food at get-togethers. The hardest thing to master in the art of making a perfect quiche is to prevent the juices or liquids from oozing out of the pastry and spoiling the dish. That is the reason the pastry base is baked first. The filling is then placed, followed by the custard and then baked to make the dish complete. Health-wise, quiches vary in the quantity and kinds of vitamins and minerals they contain — this depends on the recipe and ingredients chosen. But generally they are a good source of calcium and protein due to the milk and egg content. Garden Green QuicheIngredientsAsparagus spears, diced 4-5 noBaby spinach, shredded 100 gmCorn kernels ½ cupGreen peas ½ cupZucchini, diced ½ cup    Sundried tomatos 50 gmYellow onion 1 noOlive oil 1 tbspEggs 4 noCooking cream ½ cupCrumbled feta cheese 30 gmWhite cheddar cheese 30 gmMozzarella cheese 40 gmSalt to tasteCrushed pepper to tastePie crust (9inch dia) 1 noMethod Thaw the pie dough at room temperature until it is soft. Flatten the dough using a rolling pin and dust some flour on it to avoid it sticking to the table. Line a 9-inch pie mold with the flattened pie dough and freeze for two hours to shape it up; poke using a fork to remove excess air. Bake in pre-heated oven at 200 degree for 4-7 minutes to retain the shape of the dough, remove from oven and allow it to cool down. Blanch the spinach and refresh in ice cold water, drain the water and keep aside.Meanwhile you can prepare the quiche mixture.In a heavy bottom pan, heat olive oil and add chopped yellow onion and sauté till the onion is translucent but still crunchy.Add asparagus spears, green peas, corn kernels, zucchini dices, sundried tomatoes and continue to sauté over low heat.Once the vegetables are soft add the baby spinach and continue to cook till the mixture is dry, adjust the seasoning remove from flame and keep aside.In a separate bowl whisk eggs and milk and add feta cheese and keep aside.Take the pie mold with the dough and fill with the prepared vegetable mixture, followed by the egg and milk mixture to cover the filling. Add grated cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese on top and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160 degree for 45 minutes until the quiche is set and gets a golden brown colour on top. Demould and cut into desired size allow them to stand for 15 minutes before serving.  Note: Always remember while preparing the filling for the quiche that it should not have too much liquid as this will make the pie dough wet, and the quiche will leak. This will make the quiche dry to eat. You can prepare the quiche beforehand and heat it in microwave when you’ll like to serve it.