Quiches for me, always brings this silly song to mind, Kisses for me, kisses for you by Brotherhood! the song has absolutely nothing to do with quiches, but it is just a silly thing in my mind!

Quiches are life savers to me, it can be 5.30 when I come home and we will still eat at 6.oo, that’s if I make a quick quiche rather than trying to get the meat for the forced stew to play the game and cooks until tender in under 30 minutes. Trust me, that lamb, pork or beef will never be tender, unless you have a pressure cooker, which I don’t have and even then it is a huge risk! I can make delicious cheese bacon and egg mini quiches and we will eat in no time. What I love about quiches is their versatility. Once you have a crust that you are happy with and you understand the basics of making a savory custard, you can play around with flavors to your heart’s content!

My most favorite of all the quiches I make is this one with all the South African flavors such as mealies and our award winning Fairview goat’s cheese. I absolutely love the rustic crust and with the added pieces of ham, it is quite a substantial meal! If you have a man in the house who still thinks that only girls eat quiche, try this one with biltong and butternut and let me know!!

Last night I only had leeks and cheese and when you have such subtle flavors, they tend to get lost in a egg custard, so I had to add flavor. I added some curry powder to my crust and I sauteed the leeks with a little lemon and herb spice. The quiches were a treat with some leftover wheat salad from Sunday as well as some pickled beetroot.

Parmesan and Leek Quiches

makes 6 small quiches

Ingredients

For the crust

200 ml flour
200 ml strong cheddar cheese, grated
80 g soft butter
1 tsp curry powder

a pinch of cayenne pepper

Method

Process until it comes together in a ball of pastry – rest for 20min(if you can).
Press dough with your fingers into the quiche pans.

For the filling

Ingredients

4 leeks – thinly sliced

5 ml lemon and herb seasoning

30 ml olive oil

4 jumbo eggs

250 ml cream

100 g  Fairview Chevin  – or cream cheese if you don’t have

125 ml mature cheddar

50 g finely grated parmesan

a few grindings black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C.Heat the oil in a pan and saute the leeks until they are soft and some of the leeks have turned golden in color. ( take your time with this) Cool down the leeks for 5 minutes and then add all the filling ingredients together and pour into the prepare crusts. Bake the quiches for 20-25 minutes or until they are all puffed up and golden brown! Serve with a salad and family laughter!