Wild Herb, Mushroom and Gruyère Quiche with a Spring Flower Salad
A good quiche is one of the most delicious things you can have in your fridge in spring. It works well warm for lunch, cold for a picnic and sliced into wedges for those slightly chaotic evenings when everyone is eating at different times. My recipe brings together the flavours of the season: mushrooms, wild herbs from the fields or garden, and a salad scattered with edible flowers. It is generous without being heavy and feels like a small celebration of everything that is finally starting to grow again.
Serves 6–8. Prep 30 mins plus 30 mins chilling. Cook 1 hr.
For the pastry
- 200 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- A pinch of salt
- 2–3 tablespoons iced water
For the filling
- 200 g oyster mushrooms, torn into large pieces
- A knob of butter, for frying
- A large handful of wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped (or 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced)
- 4 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
- 200 ml double cream
- 100 ml whole milk
- 100 g Gruyère or Sussex Charmer, grated
- Salt, white pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg
For the spring salad
- A mix of young leaves: watercress, pea shoots, baby spinach, rocket
- A small handful of edible flowers such as viola, primrose, nasturtium or borage
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Make the pastry. Rub the cold butter into the flour and salt until it looks like breadcrumbs, or pulse in a food processor. Add the cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough just comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry and use it to line a 23 cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Prick the base with a fork and chill for a further 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 190 °C/170 °C fan.
- Line the pastry case with baking paper and baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5 minutes, until the base is dry and pale gold. Lower the oven to 160 °C/140 °C fan.
- Melt the butter in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and leave them for 1–2 minutes to take on some colour before you stir. Season well, add the wild garlic (or sliced garlic cloves) and cook for 1 minute until just wilted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a jug, whisk together the eggs, yolks, cream, milk, most of the cheese, the nutmeg, salt and white pepper.
- Scatter the mushroom mixture over the base of the pastry case. Pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the edges are set and the centre still has a slight wobble. It will continue to firm up as it cools.
- Leave to rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting. It is at its best at room temperature, when the texture is silky and the flavours have settled.
- Make the salad. Whisk the mustard, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper together in the base of a large bowl. Add the leaves and toss gently to coat. Scatter the edible flowers over the top just before serving.
Pair with a cold crisp glass of cider, sparkling wine or kombucha. Serve the quiche with the salad alongside and, if you can, eat it somewhere you can see something green. A doorstep, a patch of grass, the end of the garden bench will all do nicely.
Making It Go Further
Part of the pleasure of spring cooking is how far a few good ingredients will stretch if you look after them. A single, well-foraged bunch of wild garlic can become pesto, butter and the base of several suppers. Young nettles are worth making friends with at this time of year too; treat them kindly with tongs and heat, and they reward you with a flavour somewhere between spinach and the memory of a walk in the woods.
A mushroom kit on the windowsill will keep producing several flushes. Cheese can be chosen with place in mind: Gruyère if that is what you have, or Sussex Charmer if you want to keep things local. The pastry, once made, freezes well and turns a future busy day into something much easier.
Spring, at its heart, is about small efforts that pay off later: seeds in soil, dough set to rise, jars on a shelf. This quiche, and the women behind its ingredients, feel very much part of that same, hopeful pattern.
Happy spring, Sussex.
Sarah Thompson is a food and travel photographer, writer and stylist. You can find her at https://sussexkitchen.co.uk.
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