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Mushroom quiche

A French-style quiche with homemade buttery shortcrust, filled with chestnut mushrooms, leek, thyme and Gruyère in a soft, just-set custard.

Prep
25 min
Cook
1 hr 13 min
Rest
1 hr
Serves
6
Difficulty
Medium

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Mushroom quiche

Quiche is the tart that works for everything from a weekend brunch to a picnic or a light supper. Crisp, buttery pastry, a creamy custard with a gentle wobble in the middle and plenty of well-browned mushrooms: that's all there is to it.

Don't skip two steps: blind baking the pastry and cooking every drop of water out of the mushrooms. Together they make the difference between a soggy bottom and a crisp one. You make the filling while the pastry chills and bakes.

Servings 6

Ingredients

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Pastry

Filling

Method

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  1. Put the flour and salt in a bowl, add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and cold water, mix with a fork, then quickly bring together into a ball with your hands; don't knead. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

    ~10 min

  2. Roll the pastry out on a floured worktop to 3 mm thick and line a 22–24 cm tart tin, pressing it into the edges; leave about 1 cm overhanging rather than trimming. Prick the base with a fork and put the tin in the freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven to 180 °C.

    ~8 min

  3. Blind bake: line the pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice and bake at 180 °C for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 8 minutes until the base is dry and pale golden. Trim the overhang with a sharp knife.

    ~28 min

  4. While the pastry bakes, make the filling. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the leek for 5–6 minutes until soft and glossy. Turn up the heat, add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for 7–8 minutes until all their liquid has evaporated and they are browned. Season lightly and leave to cool; a wet filling makes a soggy base.

    ~14 min

  5. Whisk the eggs, cream and milk together until smooth and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

    ~3 min

  6. Scatter half the cheese over the pastry base, spread the mushroom mixture on top and add the rest of the cheese. Put the tin on the oven shelf and slowly pour in the egg mixture. Bake at 180 °C for 30–35 minutes, until golden on top, set at the edges and with just a slight wobble in the centre when you shake the tin.

    ~33 min

  7. Leave the quiche in the tin for 15 minutes to set so it slices cleanly, then serve warm or at room temperature with a green salad.

    ~2 min

Enjoy!

The mushroom in this recipe

Chestnut mushroom
Chestnut mushroom Agaricus bisporus

About this species Grow it at home Fresh mushrooms

Mushroom swaps

  • Button mushroom
    Button mushroom Agaricus bisporusWhite button mushrooms work too; the flavour is a little milder.
  • Oyster mushroom
    Oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatusTear into strips; it releases less water, so 5–6 minutes' cooking is enough.
  • Shiitake
    Shiitake Lentinula edodesDiscard the stalks and use half and half with chestnut mushrooms for a deeper flavour.

Tips

  • Keep the butter and egg cold and handle the pastry as little as possible; warm, overworked pastry turns tough and shrinks in the oven.
  • If a small crack appears in the base after blind baking, patch it with a scrap of leftover pastry and bake for another minute.
  • Pour the custard into the tin once it's already on the oven shelf; it's the easiest way to avoid spills.
  • A handful of fresh spinach or crisp bacon strips work beautifully instead of the leek.

Storage

Once cool, cover and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. It's good cold; to reheat, warm in a 160 °C oven for 10–15 minutes until hot all the way through. The unbaked pastry keeps, wrapped, for 2 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.

Read our guide to storing mushrooms →

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Kitchen guides

Before you cook: clean, store, dry

How to clean mushroomsPractical ways to clean everything from button mushrooms to morels without waterlogging them or ruining their texture. How to store mushroomsHow to keep fresh, cooked, frozen and dried mushrooms at their best — and how to tell when they’ve gone bad. How to dry mushroomsA step-by-step guide to drying mushrooms at home in the oven, in a dehydrator or on a string — and how to store and rehydrate them.