Every Christmas I’m on the lookout for delicious, nutritious, uncomplicated, vegetarian dishes to accompany the more traditional fare.

This recipe was noted down on a piece of paper in the back of one of my late Nanna’s recipe books. I’m pretty sure Nanna Dorothy used to make her own crust, but I opted for frozen pie crust that I already had in the freezer which cut the preparation time down, a necessity at Christmas time.

I made this quiche for a friends mother’s birthday, and it was a hit; it looks very festive, tastes delicious and doesn’t take too long to whip up.

Vegetarian Asparagus & Tomato Quiche
50 cm pie crust, I used a bought frozen crust
Half a punnet of cherry tomatoes cut in half
One bunch of asparagus
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 cup grated cheese
5 Large eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
Here’s how to make it
Preheat your oven to 195 degrees C
Make your pie crust – or let the frozen sheets thaw according to the directions on the packet. Lightly oil your quiche dish and once the crust has thawed line with the crust leaving plenty at the top to fold over the edge of the dish.
Take the ends of the asparagus off by snapping where they go from hard to soft, you don’t want to eat the hard bits. Cut half of them carefully lengthwise down the middle so you have two long sides that look similar. Chop the rest into pieces.
Layer the chopped asparagus, sliced mushrooms, and most of the cheese in the pie crust (keep enough to sprinkle over the top).
Next beat the eggs, cream, milk, salt, and pepper for around 2 minutes with a hand beater until light and fluffy. Pour over the vegetables in the crust and fill until 1cm from the top edge. Add the remaining cheese.
Place the lengthwise asparagus in a nice pattern around the top and then gently add the tomatoes to complete your pattern as per the picture above.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, check that the middle of the quiche is firm before removing from the oven.
*Can be made the day before and reheated – but it’s not as nice as it is fresh.
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