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There are many savoury tarts and quiches posted here (see below for links and ideas). However, I just figured that I never posted the recipe for a basic quiche.

Quiche is a very common savoury snack found in Moroccan bakeries across main cities. It’s obviously reminiscent of the French presence in Morocco for about 40 years.

We love quiches, they’re sold (or homemade) in small or medium size with a variety of classic fillings which we love back home : onions, mushrooms, spinach and smoked salmon, pink shrimp.

Quiches are usually available starting from 10. 30 am or 4 pm in most of the good bakeries, along with mini pizzas and other savoury and sweet goodies..It makes a nice filling bite before dinner time..

I usually make my mini-quiches at home. I even freeze them unbaked and bake them when needed.

Mini-quiches are a Ramadan favourite too, part of the Iftar/Ftour table especially in the urban area.

The ABC of a standard quiche (must read)

 

• I personally prefer using a shortcrust dough as a base for my quiches. Totally not fan of the puff pastry in this case. The French quiche comes with either or anyway.

• The next thing you need to make sure of, whichever vegetable filling you will be using, make sure it’s been pre-sauteed, whithered (sweating for onions and leeks is the right word) then drained from excess liquid.

• The third thing you want to make sure of is not to over-fill the quiche. It shouldn’t overflow.

• The last thing I want to tell you about is what the French call “appareil à quiche” which is the white liquid poured to fill the dough cases. You can have 50%-50% single cream/milk or 100% single cream. I sometimes use milk and fromage blanc or cream cheese (see recipes below). It really works and gives wonderful results. But like I said, let’s concentrate on the basic appareil à quiche that you have to learn by heart to make any quiche.

• Ideally, after you fill the tin casings with a thin layer or dough and prick it, you will need to place the filling (spinach, mushroom, shrimp, bacon…) then pour the “appareil à quiche“. 

• It’s conventional that quiche does not have grated cheese on top but since many people add that for a “gratiné” effect, no one will blame you. The more cheese the merrier.

• No soggy bottom.

• I freeze the mini-quiches before baking so I don’t have to start from the beginning anytime I need them.

• When you make mini-quiches, it’s likely that the appareil à quiche needed will be less than what’s required for a standard quiche (less than 25 mm diameter) while you might need more or just about the same amount of dough. Then again it depends on the tins used (some are deeper than other). When I have shallow deep cases/tins, I just half the amount of ingredients needed to make the appareil à quiche. The other thing is to use it to make crustless quiches for those in diet.

• Quiches in all sizes are ideally eaten at room temperature, which make them perfect for buffets, picnics and food to go.

•  You can make the dough ahead of time, the filling as well but you can leave the appareil a quiche when you are about to build the quiche (s) and bake them.

• It’s also possible to pre-bake the dough casing before filling it, then you will need less time to bake at a lower temperature (160 degrees C).

Now that we cleared all that, let’s get on with the recipe. I suggest a spinach, jben (or ricotta) and mushroom for the filling but again, the dough and appareil à quiche are the standards ones you need to use for any other quiche recipe.

Ingredients
Serves 6 -8 (20- 25 mm diameter or 8 medium or 16+ mini) 
Prep: 15 min (does not involve dough making) – Cooking: 1 hour

Savoury shortcrust pastry

• 250g of all purpose flour
• 125g of cold butter, in cubes
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• A good pinch of black pepper (optional)
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 -3 tbsps of cold milk

Filling

• 4 handfuls of spinach leaves (or a bunch), approximately
• 200 g of button mushrooms, sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsps of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 50 -80 g of ricotta, fetta or jben (Moroccan white cheese)
• 40 g of grated cheese (emmental, edam, comté, gruyère..)

Appareil à quiche 

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 25 ml of single cream or creme fraiche
• 25 ml of milk
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• A pinch of grated nutmeg

 

Preparation

Shortcrust dough

Mix the flour with salt, pepper and butter and mix to a crumbly/sandy texture. You may use a food processor with a blade for this step.

Add the egg yolk mixed with the milk to the first mix. Gently bring the mix together without overworking the dough. Flatten to an “abaisse” in a cling film. Cover and freeze for 25 min or place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Spinach and mushrooms filling

Over medium heat, saute the mushrooms in olive oil for about a minute. Season and stir.
Cover for another 2 minutes (it helps them cooking through). Lift the lid and cook for another 30 seconds.

Set aside. Use the same pan to saute the spinach in butter for about 2 minutes.

Leave both ingredients to cool.

Appareil à quiche 

With a hand mixer, beat the eggs with salt, pepper and nutmeg. You don’t need to bring air to the mix.

Add the liquid and mix to combine.

Assemble the quiche (s)

Roll the dough maximum 2 mm thin, place in tart or muffin tin(s). Prick all around.

Place the cold filling of mushroom and spinach. Scatter some nuggets/dots of white cheese on top,

Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly.

Pour the appareil à quiche delicately and evenly all the way to the top but do not allow it to overflow. If you are worried it happens, pour 2/3 of it and once you place the quiche(s) is in the oven, finish off up to the edges.

Bake and serve

Bake at 170 -180 degrees for 45 -50 minutes for a large or medium quiches, about 35 min for mini quiches. Serve at room temperature.