Telford College’s catering students got into the coronation spirit by creating a quiche which has been given the royal seal of approval.
The Coronation Quiche recipe has been hand-picked by King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla as the official party food for this weekend’s celebrations.
On the Royal Family website, the dish is described as ‘a deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and delicate flavours of spinach, broad beans and fresh tarragon’.
Eaten hot or cold with a green salad and boiled new potatoes, the Royal couple describe it as ‘perfect for a Coronation Big Lunch!’.
Buckingham Palace said it was chosen because it worked as a sharing dish, met a wide variety of dietary requirements, and could be easily adapted to suit different tastes.
Level two catering students rustled up six of the royal quiches in Telford College’s training kitchens at the Wellington campus.
Tutor Julie Johnson said: “Our level two learners were already familiar with pastry techniques, and followed the official recipe. They used the standard quiche-making recipes which apply to a traditional quiche Lorraine.”
The students’ efforts were put to the taste test by several staff and students. And the results?
Julie said: “They felt the flavour was quite distinctive, with the tarragon, herbs, and the inclusion of podded broad beans adding a nice change from broccoli or asparagus which is used in other traditional recipes.
“It was declared a nice option for a light lunch – although tarragon is a distinctive herb with a slight aniseed flavour that not everyone may like, so a substitution could be used like chives, thyme, oregano or sage.”
Fancy giving it a try? Here’s the official recipe…
The Coronation Quiche recipe (to serve six)
Pastry:
125g plain flour
Pinch of salt
25g cold butter, diced
25g lard
2 tablespoons milk
Filling:
125ml milk
175ml double cream
2 medium eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
Salt and pepper
100g grated cheddar cheese
180g cooked spinach, lightly chopped
60g cooked broad beans or soya beans
METHOD
- Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl; add the fats and rub the mixture together using your finger tips until you get a sandy, breadcrumb-like texture.
Add the milk a little at a time and bring the ingredients together into a dough.
Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
- Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle a little larger than the top of the tin and approximately 5mm thick.
- Line the tin with the pastry, taking care not to have any holes or the mixture could leak. Cover and rest for a further 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper, add baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, before removing the greaseproof paper and baking beans.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
- Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and seasoning.
- Scatter 1/2 of the grated cheese in the blind-baked base, top with the chopped spinach and beans and herbs, then pour over the liquid mixture.
- If required gently give the mixture a delicate stir to ensure the filling is evenly dispersed but be careful not to damage the pastry case.
- Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden.
