Coronation quiche

Prep:35 mins
Cook:45 mins
plus 1 hr chilling

A deep quiche with a crisp pastry case, and delicate flavours of spinach, broad beans and fresh tarragon. The pastry includes lard, but you can swap this for butter to make it vegetarian. Eat hot or cold with a green salad and boiled new potatoes - perfect for a Coronation Big Lunch!

Ingredients
250g plain flour, plus a little for dusting
50g cold butter, diced
50g lard (or use butter if you prefer)
4 tbsp milk, plus a splash
Or 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry
For the filling
125ml milk
175ml double cream
2 medium eggs
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
100g cheddar, grated
180g cooked spinach, liquid squeezed out and lightly chopped
60g cooked broad beans or soya beans (double pod the broad beans, if you like)

STEP 2
Put a 20cm loose-bottomed tart tin or a 20cm pastry ring on a baking sheet. 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. Carefully lift the pastry into the tin and gently press into the corners, taking care not to have any holes or the mixture could leak. Cover and rest for a further 30 mins in the fridge. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.

STEP 3
Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper – to do this cut a disc of greaseproof paper larger than the tin, scrunch it into a ball (this makes it more pliable), then unwrap and place it in the pastry case. It should come above the sides. Fill with baking beans or uncooked rice and bake blind for 20-25 until nicely golden and dry. Carefully remove the greaseproof paper and baking beans, and return to the oven for 5 mins to dry the base. Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

STEP 4
Beat the milk, cream, eggs and herbs with some seasoning. Scatter half of the grated cheese in the blind-baked base, top with the chopped spinach and beans, 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 20-30 mins until set and very lightly golden.

Make it gluten-free
Swap the pastry for a gluten-free version.

Make it dairy-free
Make the pastry using dairy-free spread and a dairy-free milk alternative. Most shop-bought pastry is also dairy-free. For the filling, replace the milk and cream with a dairy-free alternative – we find soya milk gives the creamiest result. You can replace the cheese with a vegan alternative, or leave it out and add 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavour.

Make it your own
If you can't find tarragon or prefer another flavour, you can swap in other soft herbs like basil or parsley. You can use peas instead of broad beans if that's what you have.

How to reheat
On the day you make the quiche, make sure you cool it down by putting it on a wire rack. Ensure the base is off the surface so the pastry cools quickly and doesn’t form condensation. Take it out of the tin when it is warm (leave it on the base) and cool completely. You can put it back in the tin before wrapping to store it in the fridge if you like. This will make it more robust and less likely to get knocked. When you want to eat the quiche, heat your oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and put a baking sheet in the oven. Lift the quiche out of the tin and slide it onto the hot baking sheet (again, leave the base on), cover the top with a sheet of foil if it is already quite brown. Reheat for 15 mins. Don’t overcook it when reheating or the spinach might give off more liquid.

Can it be frozen?
The quiche will freeze. Defrost thoroughly and reheat as above. Check the centre with the point of a knife to make sure it is hot enough and cook for a further 5 mins if you need to.

In celebration of Coronation Big Lunches taking place over the Coronation weekend, Their Majesties have shared a recipe for a Coronation Quiche – featuring spinach, broad beans and tarragon.

The Coronation Big Lunch aims to bring neighbours and communities together to celebrate the Coronation and share friendship, food and fun. Her Majesty The Queen Consort, as Patron, has attended Big Lunches all across the UK and the world, including in Ghana and Barbados.

Recipe By Buckingham Palace/Mark Flanagan/Lucy Wilson
Image: Buckingham Palace