Coronation Quiche

We thought we would create our own celebration quiche after King Charles announced his spinach, broad bean and tarragon creation.

We have stuck with the seasonal vegetable theme and used asparagus which is at its peak currently. But, please use whatever seasonal veg are available – beans, peas etc.

We hot smoke our own salmon using a mix of oak and hickory wood.

You can have this hot or warm straight from the oven with a seasonal salad or chilled as part of a Coronation picnic.

Serves 6-8. Prep time ½ hr including blind baking the pastry. Cooking time 35-40 mins

A flan or tart tin 28cm diameter

- 1 pack of ready made shortcrust pastry

- 4 large free range eggs

- Approx ½ pint of full fat or skimmed milk

- 150g Red Leicester cheese, grated ( or any hard cheese of your choice )

- 6 spring onions, cut diagonally

- 4 thick or 8 thin asparagus spears

- 2 fillets of hot smoked salmon, flaked

- 10 cherry tomatoes halved or 2 large tomatoes sliced

- 1 tsp dried tarragon

- Sea salt and black pepper to season 

Pre-heat oven to 180c fan. Roll out the pastry to more than fit the flan tin making sure you have some excess around the sides as it will shrink when blind baked. Prick the base with a fork, lay a sheet of baking paper on the base and fill with baking beans or dried rice. Bake for 15 mins then remove the baking beans and paper and put back in the oven for another 6-8 mins. Remove to cool a little.

Steam or blanch the asparagus until just soft and plunge into cold/iced water to keep the colour.

Meanwhile beat the eggs in a measuring jug with seasoning and the tarragon and top up with milk to make up to 1 pint.

Assemble the rest of the ingredients in the flan tin so they are evenly spaced.

Pour the egg/milk mix into the flan tin slowly to allow it to spread through the filling – you may not need all the egg/milk mixture – and fill nearly to the top.

Place into the middle of the oven for approx 35-40 mins until set and golden brown on top.