Been to the market and got too excited about the lovely asparagus that is to be had there just now? – Well, if there is one mishap I can relate to is when you get home and wonder why you seemingly bought food for the whole village again…

Well, I also discovered over the years that making a quiche is an excellent way out of this particular type of dilemma. So it was asparagus quiche for me the other day. And I truly enjoyed it for quite some time after!

Sanni

Ingredients (for a Ø 22 cm quiche pan):

For the crust:

• 130 grams of flour
• pinch of salt
• 65 grams of butter (cold), cut into cubes
• 1 medium egg yolk
• ca. 20 ml of water

For the filling:

• 1 bundle of spring onions, cut into thin slices
• ca. 500 grams of asparagus, mix of green and white
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 300 grams of crème fraîche
• 2 eggs
• freshly ground pepper, salt
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
• 80 grams of ground parmesan
• 1 tablespoon of pine nuts

Preparation:

Preparing the the crust:

1. Pass the flour through a fine mesh onto the clean kitchen counter or a baking mat. Add the salt and the butter. Rub the butter and the flour between your hands until you have a crumble.
2. Add the egg yolk. Quickly start kneading the ingredients adding tablespoons of water one by one until the dough is smooth, but not sticky. Should the dough become too sticky, add a bit more flour.
3. Form a ball, wrap it into cellophane and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight.
4. If you let the dough rest overnight or for a stretch of several hours, take out of the fridge approximately 30 minutes before further processing.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
6. Butter a Ø 22 cm quiche pan. Roll out the dough into a circular shape large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the quiche pan. Ease down into the pan, cover bottom and sides and cut off any dough hanging over the edge with a knife.
7. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough. Place pie weights on the top (if you do not have pie weights, you may also use dry foods such as dried chickpeas, dried peas or rice). Alternatively, prick the bottom of the raw crust with a fork all over.
8. Put the quiche pan into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Take the crust out of the oven and set aside. Remove the cellophane and the pie weights.
9. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius.

Preparing the filling:

• Melt one tablespoon of butter in a wok or other non-stick frying pan (medium heat). Fry the spring onion for approximately 5 minutes. They should not brown, so reduce the temperature if they should turn dark.
• Toss in the asparagus and sprinkle with the sugar. Fry for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until properly cooked but still al dente. Toss frequently. At the end of the cooking time, season with freshly ground pepper and salt.
• Whisk the eggs together with the crème fraîche. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Fold in the chopped parsley and ultimately, the parmesan.
• Spread the spring onion and asparagus mix over the bottom of the crust. Pour the filling on top and spread evenly.
• Finally, sprinkle the pine nuts over the quiche.
• Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for approximately 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Let cool down a bit before serving to allow the egg to coagulate properly.
• Enjoy with a fresh green salad, some summer cucumber salad (see: German Summer Cucumber Salad) or just by itself.