Ingredients
Serves 4-6Short crust pastry base
150g cold butter
250g plain flour
1 large egg
2 tablespoons cold water
Asparagus and pecorino filling
300ml milk
300ml cream
6eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 bunches asparagus, chopped and sautéed in a tablespoon of butter
2 cups grated pecorino
Method
Pastry
Place butter and flour in a food processor and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk (reserve the egg white) and water and process until mixture starts to clump together. Remove pastry from processor and shape into a disk. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place pastry disk between two sheets of baking paper. Roll out pastry to fit a 24cm quiche tin. Remove baking paper and gently ease pastry into dish. Leave some of the pastry hanging over the sides of the dish; it can be trimmed once cooked. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 170°C and prepare filling.
Filling
Whisk milk, cream, eggs, salt and pepper until fully incorporated.
In the base of the quiche base add half the asparagus and pecorino, add half of the egg mixture and then layer with the remaining asparagus, cheese and egg mixture.
Bake at 170ºC until just set, about 1¼ hours.
Serve immediately, or leave to cool to room temperature before serving, or refrigerate and serve cold.
Note: Pre-made frozen shortcrust pastry can be used as a quick alternative to home made pastry.