Butternut, membrillo & stilton quiche – Ottolenghi

Method :

• 1)

  Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°C fan (190°C for me ).

  Toss the butternut cubes in the oil with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and some black pepper and spread ut on a baking tray. Roast for 30 minutes (depending on your oven), turning once, until golden – brown.

  

  Set aside to cool.

• 2)

  Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C / 170°c Fan.

  For this part I use my method that I followed for years and always gives me the best results. Check tricks & Tips to know how get a dough that doesn’t shrink while baking and how to keep its shape.

  Here is Ottolenghi’s method :

  Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface, roughly 3mm thick, and transfer it to a 24cm quiche or flan tin. When lining, leave some pastry hanging over the edge. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge. Line the pastry case with baking parchment , fill it with baking beans and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and continue to cook for 10 minutes, until the pastry is garden – brown. Remove and leave to cool.

   

• 3)

  Spread the roasted butternut cubes out on the base of the quiche, dot the Stilton between and sprinkle the membrillo all over.

  

  Place the eggs, cream and crème  fraîche in a mixing bowl with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Whisk together and then pour the cream mixture over the butternut, leaving some of the filling exposed.

  

  Place in the oven for about 40 minutes, until the custard has set.  (maybe less depending on your oven and the size of tin used).

• 4)

  Remove from the oven and allow to rest before removing from the tin and breaking off the hanging pastry.

  Serve warm or at room temperature.

  Enjoy !!

  

Tricks & Tips :

• 1)

  How to make a simple shortcrust pastry dough that doesn’t shrink while baking ?

  For a 20cm tin you’ll need :

  110g of unsalted very cold butter cut in a small cubes.

  220 g of all purpose flour.

  1/2 teaspoon of salt.

  Few spoons of iced water.

  You can flavour your dough with garlic powder, dried oregano or thyme as you can use fresh herbs.

  In a mixing bowl pour the flour, the salt and the butter (very cold), using your finger mix everything until the butter is completely disappears and you needed up with mixture that has a sandy texture.

  

  Add iced water few teaspoons at a time, until you get a dough.

  

  Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, ideally overnight.

  Next day roll it out 3mm thick, transfer the dough to a buttered tin, and using a very sharp knife trim all the dough excess.  There is no need t prick the dough with a fork. Chill for 1 hour in the freezer.

  Line the pastry case with a paper parchment and fill it with baking beans.

  

  Cook in a preheated oven 170°C Fan for 30 minutes. Remove the paper and the beans and ck for another 10 minutes.

  

   

  As you can see in the last picture the dough has come off the edges of the mold but in no case it has shrunk. And this is for one important reason the “cooling in the freezer ” for at least 1 hour you can leave it in the freezer for 4 hours.