A Vegetable Delight

Vegetable quiche

from Family Circle's Delicious Quiches and Flans, © 1993

Preparation time: 40 minutes + 20 minutes refrigeration
Total Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves 4-6

I used pre-made sheets of shortcrust pastry for the base of the quiche. Last time I made it I used regular sized pastry sheets and needed 1½ sheets to cover the dish I was using but yesterday I found jumbo sized sheets and they fitted perfectly.

Filling
100g broccoli, cut into small florets I added another 100g of cauliflower too
2 small zucchini, cut into 2cm slices
150g pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes
2 teaspoons oil
1 small red capsicum (red bell pepper) cut into 2cm squares
1 medium onion chopped
50g butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
130g can corn kernels

Preheat oven to 180˚C / 350˚F.Grease a 20cm fluted flan tin with melted butter or oil then line base and sides with pastry. Trim to fit. Cut a sheet of greaseproof paper large enough to cover pastry lined dish. Cover the pastry with the paper and spread a layer of dried beans or rice evenly over the paper. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and discard paper and beans. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

To make filling:
Steam or microwave broccoli, zucchini and pumpkin (and cauliflower) until just tender. Drain. Heat oil in a heavy-based frying pan and cook capsicum (red bell pepper) and onion over a medium heat until soft. Set aside. Heat butter in a small pan then add flour and stir over a low heat until flour mixture is just golden. Add milk gradually to the pan, stirring until mixture is smooth. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Beat in egg yolks until mixture is smooth, stir in cheddar cheese.

Place the cooked vegetables in a large bowl. Drain corn and add to vegetables along with pepper is required. Pour hot sauce over and stir to combine. Pour vegetable mixture into pastry shell and bake for 20 minutes, until top is golden. Serve hot.

I have made this before and was pleased with how it turned out. Hubby had put in a request for me to cook it again to I thought I'd see if it turned out as well second time round. It did!

I made two of these last night, one for the pregnant couple from Hubby's work and the other for us. As it turned out we went to a work colleagues of Hubby for dinner so I took it along as our contribution and it was warmly welcomed and heartily enjoyed. It's always nice to have something you cook so appreciated.