Perfect Bacon & Zucchini Quiche: Flaky & Delicious!

My quest to find the perfect quiche recipe has ended, and by this, I mean a proper pastry base quiche. I have more or less settled on a base that suits me. It’s easy to make, tastes great, and has the right amount of flakiness that I like in a pastry. Nothing soggy or too thick. This bacon and zucchini quiche is delicious.

The egg, cream and cheese filling mix is one I have been using for years, I just change the ingredients to make whatever quiche variation I feel like.

I love to use tinned asparagus in it, and I also love to make a crustless quiche. I enjoy the variation I use with a  whole wheat bread base which is quicker to make. I adore zucchini and sort of feel like quiche is naked without bacon, so I’m thrilled with the results of this recipe.

I know there is a weird saying about real men not eating quiche, but I have never seen a man refuse a tasty slice. It is a dish I love for so many reasons. It’s ultra-versatile. It can be eaten at breakfast, lunch or supper. It can be eaten warm or cold. It’s superb at a picnic and is a no-mess no-fuss meal-in-one for a road trip.

Quiche contains all the food groups so is a self-contained entity. It’s loaded with cheese, and it’s very delicious (to both men and women and even children). Oh, and it is marvellous with a glass of iced cold dry white wine.

The fat content is high, which is a downside, so I pack as many vegetables as I can to balance things out. I also like to mix the cheese up, keeping the Parmesan element constant, but use Cheddar, Gruyère, feta or blue cheese as the other component. You want to get to a total of around one and a half cups of cheese. It sets perfectly but is still very light.

A few tips on how to make quiche:

The pastry recipe is adapted from Simon Hopkinson’s – a favourite chef and food writer of mine, TV show – The Good Cook. I used all butter instead of his half vegetable lard and half butter. I prefer butter but have not made his version. I chilled the pastry for just over an hour – he suggests a min of 30 minutes in the fridge. Chilling pastry prior to baking is an essential element. You could chill it for even longer and make it in advance. You can also make the pastry by hand.

I used a lovely mix of dried herbs, sort of Herbs de Provence, but any mixture will work, or fresh herbs such as thyme or parsley. I don’t use it a lot as I don’t want this quiche to be herb dominant. I like how the subtle flavour of the zucchini shines through with the mildish cheeses.

I place the loose-bottomed tart tin on a baking tray before putting it in the oven. It makes the taking in and out much easier, generally stabilising it, and catches any spills if some filling leaks out. If this happens don’t worry about it. I used a 23cm tart tin, but this pastry will be enough to line a 28cm case. I shaved the zucchini with a wide vegetable peeler, but you could cut it very thinly too.

I needed to make an asparagus quiche for a shoot, so I used the same recipe just substituting the bacon and zucchini with 170g of green asparagus – which I blanched for 3 minutes in boiling water and then shocked under cold water.

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Bacon and zucchini quiche

A delicious bacon and zucchini quiche recipe.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:1 hour hr

Total Time:1 hour hr 12 minutes mins

Ingredients

pastry

• 120 g butter
• 200 g Cake Flour or All-purpose
• 2-3 Tbsp ice cold water

filling

• 4 large free-range eggs 
• 1 T Sasko Self Raising Flour
• 250 g creme fraiche / sour cream
• 3/4 180mlcup mature Cheddar
• 1/2 125ml cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/3 cup 80ml milk
• 1/2 t mixed dried herbs or 1t chopped fresh herbs thyme parsley
• 4 rashers streaky bacon chopped
• 75 g zucchini shaved into ribbons (final ribbon weight - about 3 medium)

Instructions

To make the pastry base:

• Add the flour and butter to a food processor and briefly blitz until it's a fine crumb. Pour the ice water through the spout and briefly mix to form a dough.
• Tip this onto a floured surface and knead gently. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for 30 mins to an hour.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 350 F
• Roll the pastry out to about 4mm thick and lay this over a loose-bottomed tart tin (28cm - 30cm in diameter).
• Prick the surface of the pastry with a fork in multiple places, cover it with baking paper and fill it with baking beans, dried beans, or rice. Bake blind in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, take out the baking paper and beans, and put the pastry case back in the oven for a further 10 minutes.

To make the filling

• While the pastry is baking blind, make the filling.
• Fry the bacon in a non-stick frying pan until crispy. Drain on paper and set aside.
• Slice the zucchini into ribbons using only the fleshier inner parts.
• Beat the eggs and flour together until well combined. Add all the other ingredients and mix.
• Place the hot pastry tart in the case on a baking tray and pour in the filling. Top with the bacon and zucchini arranging things evenly over the top.
• Return the quiche to the oven and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until it has set and browned around the edge.

Servings: 1 quiche

Author: Samm Linsell

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