Category: Recipes

You will find quick and easy, made-from-scratch recipes made from seasonal ingredients. There are some healthy recipes and quite a few treat recipes too. I cook the food that I love so this is not a comprehensive guide to cookery.

My focus is on Baking (particularly Cakes, Muffins and Biscuits and Cookies), Desserts (particularly Ice Cream, Meringue, Roulades and Sweet Tarts), Soups, Salads, Simple Suppers (particularly Pasta and Savoury Tarts) plus a few Snacks, Sauces and Preserves. I also have a few Drink recipes with a particular focus on home-made Gin. These are the kind of goodies that you might get a great local independent cafe or coffee shop – perhaps minus the gin!

All of these dishes are aimed at those who either have basic cooking skills or, like me, just don’t have the time to spend hours in the kitchen but want to produce something tasty and delicious.

Asparagus Quiche

Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs

This Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs is the perfect early summer lunch or supper recipe. In May and early June, bunches of seasonal fresh asparagus start to appear in the shops and it is time to look up recipes that make the most of it. It is the time of year when the weather becomes warmer and having a picnic or eating outside in the garden become more realistic prospects. It is also the time of year when outdoor concerts or plays, village fetes and sporting events start to take place. If you are looking for the perfect dish to take along to any of these, something easy, seasonal but luxurious, look no further than home-made Asparagus Quiche.

What you need to know about Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs

I generally make my own pastry. It took me many years to realise how easy it is and I do think it tastes better than ready-made pastry. However, if making pastry is not your thing, or you have limited time, you can use ready-made shortcrust pastry. This will make this quiche even quicker and easier to make.
Make sure you use fresh asparagus. There are lots of different varieties, particularly if you go to a farmers market or farm shop, and any would be good in this recipe.
A great technique when you are preparing asparagus is to remove the base of each spear by bending it until it snaps. It will naturally break at the point where the woody and unpalatable stem meets the edible part of the spear.
Make sure you do not overcook the asparagus. This is the basic rule of cooking asparagus. You need to make sure it has a little “bite” and retains its unique flavour.
I generally flavour this quiche with a combination of dill and chives. However, you can choose any non-woody herbs that you prefer. Tarragon and lemon balm would also be excellent choices.
Mature cheddar is my cheese of choice in this quiche as I think it adds a bit of oomph to the asparagus without overpowering it. You can try other cheeses but I would steer clear of blue cheese.
You can eat this quiche either hot, warm or at room temperature. We will sometimes eat it hot with buttery boiled new potatoes for supper. It also is great at room temperature as part of a summer buffet or in a lunch box. If you are making it ahead of time, you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days. Make sure that you bring it out of the fridge at least half an hour before you plan to eat it as it is not at its best if it is icy cold.

Other asparagus recipes

Every year, I look forward to early summer when fresh asparagus is in season. Nowadays, you can buy it all year round but I am a strong believer in eating seasonal, local food. This means that early summer is the time when I get to indulge my love of fresh asparagus. It is great treated simply, just steamed for a few minutes and then either eaten hot with butter or at room temperature with a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.

However, it is also a fantastic basis for quiches and savoury tarts. In addition to this Asparagus Quiche, I also make an Asparagus Tart, using ready-made puff pastry, which is fantastic quick and easy lunch or supper dish. I also make a cold Asparagus and Pea Soup with Chervil which is great on a hot summer day either as a light lunch or as a starter for a dinner party.

There are many different types of asparagus with variation in colour, the most common is green asparagus but you can get purple and white, and also the thickness of the stems. If you look in your local farmers’ market or farm-shop at this time of year, you might be lucky and find a variety of different types.

Other quiche and tart recipes

Savoury tarts and quiches are a fantastic, cook-ahead simple supper or lunch. They are easy to make and are great either hot or at room temperature. They can also be easily divided into portions if you are feeding a large number of people. Easily transportable, they also make a good addition to lunch-boxes or basis for a picnic. Some of my favourites are listed below.

I have a very simple Asparagus and Herb Cheese Tart which uses ready-made puff pastry and is quite different from this Asparagus Quiche.
Two kinds of onion tart – Caramelised Onion Tart which is based on sweet, slow-cooked onions and another version, Onion Tart with Wild Garlic, which has the addition of fresh herbs. I also have an easy Shallot Tart with Thyme and Anchovy which uses ready-made puff pastry.
I also have two very different carrot-based tarts. Carrot and Coriander Tart combines these two classic flavours in a simple quiche-style savoury tart. Carrot Tart uses ready-made puff pastry and combines large pieces of carrot with orange and soft cheese.
Beetroot Tart is deliciously sweet and earthy. Tomato Tart is also sweet but has a lighter and fresher flavour.
Spinach Tart combines leaf green spinach with feta and crunchy pine-nuts.
Butternut Squash Tart with Chilli and Sage also has a sweetness to it but this is off-set by the addition of a little hot chilli.
Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers is a fantastic comination of rich, smoky roasted peppers with salty feta cheese.
If you love garlic, you will like my Garlic Tart which is a celebration of one of my favourite flavours!
I also have a couple of fish-based recipes. My Crab and Prawn Tart has Asian-inspired flavours of coriander, lime and chilli. My Smoked Salmon Tart with Prawns is easy to make and is perfect for a celebratory meal or party.
In addition to larger quiches and tarts, I also have a recipe for individual Herb Tartlets which are great as canapes or snacks.

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Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs recipe

Asparagus Quiche

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 6-8 1x
Category: Quiche
Method: Baking
Cuisine: English

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Description

Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs is the perfect early summer lunch, supper or picnic recipe – easy, seasonal, luxurious and great eaten hot or cold.

Asparagus Quiche

Ingredients

Scale

For the pastry:

275 g (10 oz) plain flour
125 g fat (5 oz) I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)
Salt
A little water

For the filling:

15 asparagus spears
a large bunch of fresh dill or herb fennel (2 tablespoons when chopped)
a large bunch of fresh chives (2 tablespoons when chopped)
Salt and pepper
100 ml (4 fl oz) double cream
2 eggs
75 g (3 oz) Cheddar or other full-flavoured cheese

Asparagus Quiche

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Instructions

Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl. Add the fat and combine – either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough.
Roll out your pastry and use it to line a 25 cm quiche or flan dish. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”. This will stop the filling making it soggy and ensure that the base is crisp.
Next, prepare the asparagus spears. Remove the base of each spear by bending it until it snaps. It will naturally snap at the point where the thicker, less palatable base section starts.
Either steam the asparagus spears for three minutes or plunge them into boiling water for the same amount of time. This will partially cook the spears but retain their crunch and flavour.
Place the part-cooked asparagus spears in the pastry case.
Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the cream, and beat until combined. Grate the cheese and add to the mixture. Then finely chop the dill (or herb fennel) and chives and also add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and then pour it into the pastry case.
Place your quiche or flan dish in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

Notes

This Asparagus Quiche can be eaten hot, warm or at room temperature.

This recipe has been shared on #CookBlogShare with the Peachicks Bakery and #Fiesta Friday with Fiesta Friday

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Ginger Biscuits (Ginger Cookies)

Easy Ginger Biscuits (Ginger Cookies)

These easy Ginger Biscuits are a bit different from a traditional ginger cookie or ginger biscuit recipe. I think of them as a cross between a flapjack and a brandy-snap. They are very quick to bake, only 10 minutes in the oven, and have a base of oats with sugar and butter, a small amount of flour and an egg. The ginger flavour comes from finely chopped pieces of stem ginger that are added to the mixture. Flaked almonds also give a bit of extra crunch and nuttiness.

This recipe is based on one that my mother used to make. She used candied peel, rather than stem ginger, in her recipe. I am not a huge fan of candied peel and I had a half-used jar of stem ginger left over from Christmas so I decided to try make a ginger-flavoured version. I was also looking for a baking recipe that did not use a lot of flour as I am finding it hard to get hold of this at the moment.

These Ginger Biscuits have a subtle ginger flavour which even those who are not big ginger fans seem to like. The biscuits themselves are chewy with a bit of crunch around the edges and are sweet and buttery.

Things you need to know about these Ginger Biscuits (Ginger Cookies)

They are very quick and easy to make. Just mix all the ingredients together and pop them in the oven for 10 minutes.
The only slightly tricky stage is getting the cooked biscuits off the baking tray. The key is to make sure that the baking tray is very well greased and that you do not try and take the biscuits off immediately they come out of the oven (they will be too soft) or leave it too long (they will be welded to the baking tray!). If you leave it for about 5 minutes, that is just about right and it should be quite straightforward to get them off.
Don’t leave out the pinch of salt. It makes a big difference to the taste of the biscuits as it balances out the sweetness.
They are very versatile. Have them with a cup of morning coffee or afternoon tea. Add them to lunch boxes. Or they are also a very nice addition to a bowl of ice cream.
I used stem ginger for this recipe. This is candied ginger in its own syrup which you can buy in most supermarkets. It is one of my favourite ingredients as a little goes a long way and, in addition to the globes of sweet ginger, you can also use the syrup as a flavouring. However, if you do not have stem ginger to hand, you could use pieces of crystallised ginger which can be found in the baking aisle in most supermarkets.
If ginger is not your thing, you could substitute the stem ginger for the same amount of mixed peel. Or you could just leave out the ginger and you would still have a delicious, oaty, buttery biscuit.

Other teatime treats

If you are a fan of ginger, you might like my Ginger and Pear Cake or Gingerbread Loaf Cake . If you are in the mood for a different kind of biscuit, you could try my Lavender Shortbread or Lemon Biscuits. Or if you are a savoury kind of person then Cheese Biscuits might hit the spot. I also have a lot of recipes for very easy loaf cakes including St Clement’s Cake, Apple Cake, Coconut Cake, Blood Orange Cake, Cherry and Almond Cake, Earl Grey Cake, Latte Cake with Salted Caramel, Lavender Cake, Lemon Drizzle Cake, Rhubarb Crumble Cake and Rum Banana Bread.

How to make Ginger Biscuits (Ginger Cookies)