Bianca Hillermann's Ham and Mushroom Quiche Recipe
“Bianca’s ham and mushroom quiche shows a solid understanding of balance and texture. It has as a wonderfully rustic flair. The pastry is golden, the filling generous, and it’s the kind of dish that feels both hearty and approachable.”
Bianca Hillermann's Ham and Mushroom Quiche Recipe
Makes 1 quiche in a pie dish with a base of 18cm and a depth of 3cm. Serves 4 people.
CRUST INGREDIENTS
1½ cups all-purpose Champagne Valley Flour
140g salted Butter, cubed
1 extra-large Midland’s Egg (64g)
2½ tbsp iced Water
FILLING INGREDIENTS
250g (1 punnet) Button Mushrooms
1 large Garlic Clove (3g)
35g salted Butter
230g (1 pack) Ham flavoured Cream Cheese
1 cup Milac Gold Cream
4 extra-large Midland’s Eggs (64g each)
150g Ham, cut into 2x2cm squares
¼ cup Basil Leaves, coarsely chopped
125g Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 Cherry Tomatoes, sliced
Oryx Salt, to taste
Pepper to taste
Basil Leaves for garnish
METHOD
For the crust, add the flour and butter into a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until combined.
Crack the egg into a smaller bowl and whisk together with the cold water.
Add the egg mixture into the flour/butter mixture and mix well using your hands, until a dough is formed.
Shape the dough into a ball and wrap with cling film. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
In the meantime, preheat the Defy oven to 180º C.
Fry the mushrooms and garlic in some butter until they are golden brown in colour. Set them aside on a baking tray to cool.
Grease a quiche dish with a depth of 3cm and a base of 18cm and set it aside.
Once 2 hours have passed, remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and place it on a lightly floured surface.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough so that it is large enough to fill the greased quiche dish.
Lay the rolled-out dough into the dish and gently press it into the edges of the dish.
Neaten the edges of the crust that are hanging over the dish by cutting away the excess dough using a knife.
In a large bowl, mash the cream cheese using a whisk and add in the cream. Whisk to combine.
Whisk in the 4 eggs.
Add the mushrooms, ham, basil leaves and cheese into the mixture.
Season to taste using Oryx salt and pepper.
Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and top with tomato slices.
Bake the quiche in a Defy oven for about 50 minutes, or until the filling is set.
Remove the quiche from the oven and allow to cool in the dish that the quiche was baked in before plating and garnishing with basil leaves.
Story behind the dish:
“When I was four years old, my mom entered for us to appear on a cooking show called ‘Take a Biscuit’. However, we never expected to actually be invited to a follow-up interview, so when we were asked to be part of the show, we were utterly shocked but also extremely excited to be on television. We ended up appearing on the show with Liz Meiring and this Ham and Mushroom Quiche was one of the dishes that we made, but I did make a couple changes to the recipe to make the dish my own.” - Bianca Hillermann