White Cheese Quiche

It’s been a while since I posted some recipes on the blog, I enjoy cooking very much, but since we got here in Berlin, we are cooking basic stuff, nothing different or special, especially because our kitchen isn’t fully equipped. We pretend to buy ourselves a blender this week or the next, its really something you’ve gotta have in your kitchen, I’ve been missing it a lot!

I made this quiche a while back, when I still lived in São Paulo, and got this recipe from the Brazilian Cook Rita Lobo. She has this show called “Cozinha Prática”, which in english means Practical Kitchen, on each episode she presents recipes that aren’t difficult to do, and that’s why I like it so much, no stress or headaches to plan daily meals. What is different about this recipe is that she uses a brazilian soft white cheese produced in the state of Minas Gerais, I don’t know if you can find this cheese abroad, I looked on the web for his substitute and found that you can replace it using Queso Fresco, and I also think you can replace it with Feta, but I’ve never tried that either.

I dare say that it’s one of the best quiches I’ve ever done! 😀

Ingredients for the dough:

2 cups flour
150g cold butter
5 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

You will need a quiche pan or a pan with a removable bottom about 20cm in diameter, the higher the better! In a bowl, place the cold water and set aside. Cut the butter into cubes about 1cm and place in a bowl with the flour and the salt. Mix with your hands, quickly, without completely dismantling the butter. With a measuring spoon, transfer the 5 tablespoons of cold water to the bowl and mix just until you can form a ball. Avoid working the dough too much, as it ends up being less crispy. The key is to let dots of butter apparent without being incorporated into the flour. Wrap the ball of dough into a plastic film or place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours, whichever is most convenient for you.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and the plastic film. If it is too hard, soften with the heat of your hands, working as little as possible. Remember, the trick here is to keep the dough always cold. At a flat and floured surface, roll the dough with a rolling pin. It must be bigger than the pan to cover the bottom and sides. Roll the dough to the rolling pin and unroll over pan, and with your hands, shape the dough into the pan. To avoid a cracked dough, it is important to tighten the corners to form a solid foundation. Remove excess dough with a knife or roll the pin on the pan. Take the pan with the dough into the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 200°C, or in medium-high temperature. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and place raw beans on paper. The goal is to form a weight that does not let the bottom dough inflate and break when baking. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden. After 20 minutes in the oven, transfer the pan to a table, remove the paper with the beans and set aside the dough. If you want to make the quiche at another time, the dough can be stored in the refrigerator, it lasts up to 3 days.

Filling Ingredients:

500g minas cheese
2 tablespoons of melted butter
5 eggs
1 ½ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

If you are doing the filling while the dough is pre baking, after removing it from the oven, reduce the temperature to 180°C in average temperature. Otherwise, preheat the oven.

Mash the minas cheese with a fork, in another bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Add the milk, mashed cheese, melted butter (can be in the microwave) and stir until the mixture is homogeneous. Season with nutmeg, black pepper and salt. Stay tuned to the amount of salt as it varies according to the cheese: if it is a little salty, 1 teaspoon of salt is enough. If he is without salt, you can add a little more. In the pre baked dough, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Parmesan. Fill the dough with the mixture: do not worry because the filling is liquid. Finally, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Being careful not to spill the filling, take the quiche to the oven and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the surface is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool and firm for 15 minutes before serving. If you prefer, serve at room temperature.