Savory spinach feta cheese quiche and a must have crust recipe (pâte brisée)

Pâte brisée is a rich buttery and crumbly texture crust made with just 5 ingredients; Butter, flour, salt, sugar and ice water. The high ratio of butter to flour gives the pastry its crumbly texture. This dough is ideal for savory pies, tarts and quiches. It can be made by hand or food processor, but the most important is to not over or under work the dough beside using cold butter and cold water.

• 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 220g high quality unsalted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup ice water

Mix dry ingredients, add the butter already cut in small cubes and pulse (or mix by hands) until it just started to come together then add the ice water slowly to bind the ingredients together. Do not over work, you are not aiming to form a solid ball of dough here.

I admit it took me time to master this shortcrust dough, it’s a bit tricky and i know lots of you prefer buying it ready made. But trust me when you avoid these two mistakes you will enjoy making it at home. Two problems lead to failure:

• If you over work the butter into the flour, it will cause the butter to coat the flour that will not absorb enough water, resulting a fragile dough that breaks apart.
• If you under work the butter into the flour, too much water will be needed to get the ingredients come together. Here we have a tough dough because too much gluten was formed.

Let your dough rest in the fridge for an hour, this will allow the gluten in the flour to relax and the butter to chill.  Roll it out about 2cm larger than your pan and gently lay it in the pan (I used a 28 cm pan) and trim the excess on the edges. Pinch it with a fork before baking!

Today i am baking spinach feta cheese quiche, for this you need:

• 600g chopped spinach
• 200g feta cheese
• 1 cup cream
• 1 big onion diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook the onion with olive oil until tender and fragrant. Add the chopped spinach (thawed if frozen) and cook together for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cream and combine all well. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper then add to the mix.

I like to precook the crust for 15 minutes on 180ºC before pouring the mix on it. Once it’s spread evenly, sprinkle on top the feta cheese. Bake for 30 minutes on 180ºC or until the skewer comes out clean.

Bon appetit!