Bacon & Mushroom Quiche

6	rashers of lean smoked bacon, chopped
4	large eggs
300ml	double cream
140g	cheddar cheese, finely grated
320g	short crust pastry, ready rolled
50g	mushrooms, chopped
	salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas mark 6. Now, line a 23 x 2.5 cm flan tin or large tart tin.

 

2. Lay the pastry across the tin, fitting the pastry to the sides and bottom. Ensure pastry is pushed into each dip in the edge of the pan.

 

3. Trim any excess, leaving a small lip above the tin to allow for pastry shrinkage while cooking, then prick the base several times with a fork.

 

4. Line pastry with tin foil, shiny side down. Cover with baking beans (dry pasta will also work) to blind bake. Bake for 15 minutes. Now, remove the foil and baking beans and cook for a further 5 minutes until golden.

5. While pastry is cooking, place a pan over a medium heat with 1 tsp of vegetable oil, once hot add and fry bacon until lightly cooked.

6. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook until the mushrooms are soft and the bacon is cooked. Now remove from the heat.  

7. Beat the eggs and double cream together with a fork before adding the cheese. 

8. Arrange half the bacon and mushrooms on top of the pastry then pour in the egg mixture. Add the rest of the bacon and mushrooms on top of the filling. 

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the filling is only very slightly wobbly but mostly firm, it should be golden in colour. 

10. Leave to cool at room temperature before removing the quiche from the tin. 

Add or combine a variety of different ingredients to the mushrooms and bacon to mix up the flavour! You can also use any mild cheese as an alternative.