Here’s a quiche recipe to use up all those green leaves you might normally throw away. I used beet and radish leaves together with speck and chorizo for a super tasty filling in a walnut pastry shell.
For the pastry shell combine 185g (6½ oz) of plain flour with 30g (1 oz) of toasted walnuts (toast them in the oven or in a dry pan) in a food processor and pulse until the walnuts are finely chopped. Add 120g (4¼ oz) of cold, cubed butter and 30g (1 oz) of finely grated parmesan and process to mix. Add a beaten egg and process until the dough forms into a ball, adding up to 1 tablespoon of cold water to achieve the right consistency. Remove the dough, cover and chill in the fridge. Meanwhile, grease a pie or quiche tin and preheat your oven to 180ºC (375ºF). When the dough is chilled, roll it out to a thin sheet and carefully line the prepared tin. Chill the dough again. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork, cover it with baking paper and place weights over the bottom (you can use dried legumes if you don’t have pie weights). Blind bake the pie shell for 15 minutes then remove the weights and paper and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 160ºC (320ºF). For the filling, cook a chopped onion in some olive oil then add some cubes of speck (or bacon) and ½ a chorizo chopped into small pieces. Wash your greens and when the onion has wilted and the fat is starting to come out of the speck and chorizo, add the finely chopped stems. Cook the stems until tender then add the chopped leaves. Add a generous amount of finely diced garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and continue to cook until the leaves are wilted. Remove from the stove and allow to cool a little. In a large bowl, beat 6 – 8 eggs with 1 – 1½ cups of milk (or cream if you prefer). Add the greens mixture and season well. If you want, you can also add extra cheese. Pour the egg mixture into the pie shell and bake until the centre is just set. Serve slightly cooled or at room temperature.
michelle picker cooks 