Ham and Leek Quiche Recipe

I love this recipe because although it has a classic filling, the pastry is slightly different. The small addition of wholemeal flour gives it a great texture without being too heavy. It is slightly bread-ish and the olive oil ingredient gives a lovely Mediterranean flavour.

This is a great recipe to use up leftover Christmas ham! Just slice off chunks and cut them up to the size you like.

It is easy to cook and feeds a family with just a salad on the side. See my tips before you start and let me know if you give it a go and perhaps swap out some ingredients.

Olive Oil Pastry

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup wholemeal flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
•  ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup lukewarm water

Combine flours, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Mix oil and water together and mix into dry ingredients with a knife until the dough comes together. It should be supple so add a little extra oil if needed to easily press out. Press into a round and rest for 10 minutes before rolling. This pastry will keep in the fridge for at least a week or can be frozen.

Ham and Leek Quiche

• 1 recipe of olive oil pastry as above or 380g of store bought shortcrust pastry
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large leek (all the white and half the green), thinly sliced
• 2 tsp thyme leaves, chopped or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup sour cream or cream
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 160g ham, finely chopped
• 1 cup grated gruyere or tasty cheese

Preheat the oven to 170°C fanbake and grease a 27-28cm loose-bottom flat tin.

Roll out pastry thinly into a circle about 35cm in diameter and press into the base and 4cm up the sides of the prepared tin. Chill until needed.

Heat butter in a medium-large pot and cook leeks and thyme over a medium heat until fully wilted and tender (12 mins). Remove from heat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, sour cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in leeks and ham. Pour into prepared pastry shell and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until the filling is set and pastry is golden (30 mins).

Allow to cool for at least 10 mins before serving warm or at room temperature. The quiche will keep well in the fridge for several days and can be reheated to serve.

Serves 6

Recipe credit: Annabel Langbein

Tips

I use natural yoghurt instead of cream or sour cream and this works well, slightly more tart-ish.

I always use far too much chopped leaks and my filling tends to overflow during cooking so be sure to place a tray underneath in the oven while cooking.

I don’t mix all the filling together. I like large chunks of ham through the pie so I tend to layer the ingredients- firstly, half the ham, some leeks, more ham, remainder leeks and then place the pie in the oven on the slide-out rack; then I pour on the milk and egg mix and give it a tiny poke around to disperse; then pile on the cheese and slide it into the oven very gently, gently so as not to slosh.

To finish off the cooking I like to use the grill function in the oven just for the last 5 minutes, so that the cheese on top becomes fully melted, brown and golden. Keep an eagle eye out so it doesn’t burn!