Mushroom, Sage and Mustard Quiche

This quiche made me realise what a difference it makes to use cream in the filling. Previously, I've always used eggs and milk, but there was a pot of double cream in the fridge, leftover from Easter, and I didn't want to use it in calorific desserts which we shouldn't be eating. Using it in the quiche made the custard part of the filling more full-bodied and richer in flavour.

I made a traditional shortcrust pastry mix, using half lard and half butter, but before adding the water I added in a heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and 25g finely grated parmesan cheese. I baked the pastry case blind, and also brushed the inside of the case with beaten egg, which I dried out in the hot oven, but it still didn't stop a soggy bottom.

The filling was half a medium onion, finely diced, sauteed with 400g of sliced mushrooms and a crushed clove of garlic, until there was no excess water in the pan. I added half a dozen shredded sage leaves towards the end of cooking and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper. The custard was 3 large eggs, 150mls double cream, 50mls semi-skimmed milk plus the egg left over from egg-washing the case (about half an egg). After the mushroom filling and the custard were in the case I sprinkled over about 25g finely grated mature cheddar and baked the quiche at 150C for about 40 minutes, turning up the temperature a little at the end, to make sure the filling browned a little.

The sage complimented the mushrooms better than I expected, and the cheese and mustard in the pastry added an extra savoury note - not overwhelming, but it was noticeable that something extra had been added. Apart from the soggy pastry bottom, this was a very succesful dish.