Directions
This cheese and mushroom quiche is a great homemade dish, a quick and easy recipe that you can serve in impromptu last-minute dinners or take to tribal social gatherings. Everyone always gets a little grumpy. They would say it’s trivial, too easy. But you don’t have time to place it on the table that the grasshoppers have already swept it away. Have you ever noticed?
Well, but with this recipe, we want to go beyond the usual quiche because we will also add Fontina and mushrooms. Specifically, we were lucky enough to find wonderful chanterelles, but all types of mushrooms you have available are acceptable. About Fontina, it would be better not to add any other strong-flavored cheeses because it is difficult to find an equally intense and tasty cheese. And the beauty is that Fontina itself has a sort of pungent appeal similar to the umami of mushrooms.
Ingredients and doses for making a delicious cheese and mushroom quiche
For the shortcrust pastry
- 420 grams of flour
- 1 egg
- 220 grams of butter
- water
- 10 grams of salt
For the filling of the savory pie
- 3 eggs
- 2 shallots
- 280 grams of cottage cheese
- 40 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano
- 120 grams of Fontina
- 60 ml of fresh cream
- 5 grams of nutmeg
- 10 grams of salt
- 5 grams of pepper
- 35 grams of extra virgin olive oil
How to make the perfect cheese and mushroom quiche
For an ideal result, we need to make a state-of-the-art pasta brisée. Never buy those horrid and plasticky wrappers of prepackaged puff pastry or shortcrust pastry. They are low-level products, full of palm oil and preservatives, especially if you consider that it will take a maximum of 10 minutes to make an excellent shortcrust pastry.
Ok, let’s start. Pour the flour on a cutting board, dig in the middle to make room for the other ingredients, and put the softened butter, the egg, the salt and mix. If you use a mixer even better: you will avoid overworking the dough by heating it. Give the mixer a few strokes, then knead quickly until the shortcrust pastry is a firm ball. If it is too dry, add a drop of water. Wrap in compostable film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Now to the filling of the savory pie. Chop the shallot and stew it in a pan with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, season with a pinch of salt, add 1 garlic to the pan and cook slowly for 10 minutes.
Wash the mushrooms with a damp cloth and cut the stem’s end. Never use running water to wash the mushrooms, but only a cloth to gently pat them.
Finely chop some mushrooms, leave others whole or large pieces, then toss them in a pan, season with salt and pepper and cook for 20 minutes. Let it cool down.
Take a bowl and pour in the stewed mushrooms with the shallot, throw the garlic, add the ricotta, the grated Parmigiano Reggiano, the cream, a sprinkling of nutmeg, salt, pepper, the eggs and endlessly the coarsely grated Fontina and mix to obtain a firm and well-blended mixture.
Now let’s move on to cooking the shortcrust pastry: line a mold with baking paper.
Take the shortcrust pastry and roll it out with the help of a bit of flour. If you have any problems, put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and mash it with a rolling pin. Make a circle with the dough and place it on the mold. Cut out the one that comes out of the mold: you can use it to make any decorations.
Cover the pasta with a sheet of parchment paper, put oven weights or dried beans on top and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
Take out the shortcrust pastry, remove the parchment paper and stuff with the mushroom and cheese filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes more, lowering the temperature to 170 degrees.
After 25 minutes, check the quiche. It is ready if it is golden brown and the filling is firm on the sides. The center always remains softer, but it will finish cooking with the accumulated heat. Switch off the oven and leave the oven door ajar.
Remove it from the oven and serve at room temperature after having sprinkled with fresh thyme or oregano.
Which wine goes well with the cheese and mushroom quiche?
We have many flavors in the dish, without counting the fats and the overwhelming presence of cream and cheeses that we can cope with, combining an intense and salty wine such as Fiano di Avellino. If you want to combine a red, choose a tannic and austere wine like Brunello di Montalcino.
If you want to combine a cocktail, the alcoholic and aromatic power of the Negroni is ideal.
