Summer Meals
It’s so hard to believe it’s already mid-June and summer is in full swing, at least where we are! When the weather is nice and sunny, like it has been recently, we love to eat dinner outside as much as we possibly can. Nothing is better than an evening spent with sunshine on your face, a cool drink, and a delicious summery meal. So, we’ve been keeping this in mind lately as we develop some fun and delicious summer recipes for you all to try out!
Introduction to our Quiches!
Today’s recipe is for a quiche, or madtærte. Although not necessarily a Scandinavian dish, it is perfect for a classic Scandinavian summer evening meal. We also just love the recipe so much that we wanted to share it with you, even if it is more French than Scandinavian. We have a few different recipes for quiche on our blog, like this one with potatoes and leeks, or this one with tomato, spinach, and mozzarella. There simply is not a better dish to make for a gathering of friends or a dinner party than a quiche!
Today’s Recipe
This quiche recipe is filled with lots of delicious veggies: asparagus, onion, garlic, and spinach, as well as some ham and both cheddar and mozzarella cheese. You can (of course) customize it however you want, adding different cheeses and bacon instead of ham. You can add more veggies, like mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, or leeks. Just make sure to cook your filling ingredients a bit before adding them to the quiche, or else they will remain uncooked and crunchy. We hope you try out this recipe – it’s seriously delicious!
Check Out Our Video!
Watch our video to see a demonstration of how we make our quiche recipe:
Ham and Asparagus Quiche (Madtærte med skinke og asparges)
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 300 grams (1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp) flour
- 170 grams (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp ice water
FILLING
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 80 grams (3 oz) baby spinach
- 2-4 large slices of ham (optional – you can also use cubed ham, or even bacon!)
- 12 large eggs
- 240 ml (1 cup) half and half
- 227 grams (2 cups) shredded cheddar
- Fresh mozzarella for topping (optional)
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the dough by adding your flour and salt to a food processor, or if mixing by hand, add to a medium mixing bowl.
- In the food processor, add your butter and pulse until it resembles sand. By hand, crumble the butter and flour mixture between your fingers until you get to a similar, sand like consistency.
- Add your ice water to the food processor and pulse until the dough just comes together. You can add a little more water if it is still very crumbly! By hand, just add your ice water and press together until you get a cohesive dough.
- Wrap your dough and chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 400 F (204 C).
- While your dough is chilling and the oven is pre-heating, cut the asparagus into 1-1.5 inch pieces. Cook on medium to low heat for about five minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool. Dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the same pan you were cooking the asparagus. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are translucent, then add the spinach until just wilted. Transfer to the same large mixing bowl and let this cool down while you roll out the dough.
- Once your dough has chilled, roll out to a large, mostly rectangular shape (or circular, depending on the shape of your pan!) between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. We used a large pan for this recipe (9x13inch glass pan).
- Roll your dough around your rolling pin and transfer to your pan. Adjust or patch any empty spaces and trim the edges.
- Prick the dough with a fork all over. If the dough has warmed up a lot while you've been working with it, you can put it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm up again! This will help the dough not shrink back as much from the edges of the pan.
- Bake the dough for about 15 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- While the dough is baking, crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk together. Cut the ham slices into small cubes and grate the cheddar cheese (if needed).
- Add the eggs, half and half, cheddar cheese, ham and salt and pepper (to taste) into the mixing bowl with your vegetables. Stir to combine everything well.
- Once the base has baked, take it out of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350 F (176 C). Add the filling to the base. Add fresh mozzarella to the top of the quiche.
- Bake for around 30-40 minutes or until the quiche has set in the center. Depending on the type of pan you are using, it may take a little longer!
- Once it has baked, let it cool for about 15 minutes, slice, and enjoy!
