I cobbled this recipe out of several others, which is why it amounts to a lot of effort for a quiche. However, the poached chicken bit is very versatile – shredded for salads or soups, or mixed with the crème fraiche and herbs in sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 3 free-range chicken breasts
- 2 sticks of celery (though as always with celery, you can leave this out)
- 2 spring onions
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
- 250g low fat crème fraiche
- 2 free-range eggs
- 175g plain flour
- 90g butter
- Salt and pepper to season
Method
- Chop the celery and spring onions into rough chunks.
- Fill a large pan with water, add the celery, spring onions, peppercorns and sea salt, and bring to the boil.
- Add the chicken to the boiling water and return to the boil. Then as soon as it’s boiling, clamp on a lid and turn off the heat. Leave for one hour for the chicken to poach, then remove from the water.
- Now make the pastry (yes, make! Or use frozen. But making it is dead easy). Start by preheating the oven to 220°C (gas mark 7) and putting the flour into a bowl.
- Cut up the butter into little bits, and add it to the flour. Rub the butter between your fingers until you have something like fine breadcrumbs.
- Add one or two tablespoons of cold water, and mix with a round bladed knife until it forms a dough – your dough shouldn’t be too sticky.
- Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Take out the chilled dough, roll it out and line a pie dish that’s about 23cm wide.
- Prick the base all over with a fork, then cover the pastry with tin foil and fill the dish with baking beans. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, taking out the foil and beans for the last ten minutes.
- Back to the filling. Shred the chicken with a fork. The meat will be really soft and flaky.
- Put the flaked chicken into a bowl with three or four tablespoons of the crème fraiche.
- Chop the basil finely and add it to the chicken.
- Season with salt and pepper, add the mustard and mix together thoroughly.
- In another bowl lightly beat the eggs with a fork, and mix with the remaining crème fraiche. Season this too.
- Spread the chicken mixture over the base of the pastry case, and then pour the egg mixture over the top.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake the quiche for 35 to 40 minutes until the top has set. Serve either hot or (preferably) cold, with salad – I had it with some tasty watercress.