Bacon, Mozzarella & Walnut Quiche

A real hearty, filling quiche with a crunch. I’ve spoken before about my love for nuts but have until now mainly included them in sweet dishes. There’s definitely a place for walnuts in a quiche though – Chopped fairly small and added right at the last moment, just before baking – they go wonderfully with the salty bacon and creamy quiche filling.

I’ve used a traditional short-crust pastry but in hindsight, I could have made this even more special with a walnut pastry. I might have to bake this again next week to try that theory out!

Serves	8+
Prep time	45 minutes
Cook time	35 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 20 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Cold
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Medium Egg Yolk
• 4 tablespoons Water
• 220g Plain Flour
• 105g Very Cold Butter (Cut into very small squares)
• 1 packet Smoked Bacon (Around 200g-250g with the rind cut off. Cooked, cooled & chopped into chunks)
• 2 Medium Eggs + 1 Egg White
• 284ml Double Cream
• 2 teaspoons dried chopped parsley
• 75g Walnuts (Chopped into small pieces)
• 150g Grated Mozzarella

NOTE

Pecan nuts can be used as an alternative to walnuts. For added vegetables, why not try adding a portion of asparagus?

DIRECTIONS

Pastry Base
1.
In a large bowl, rub together the butter and flour until you have fine breadcrumbs
2.
Mix in the egg yolk and the water (you may not need all of the water) until you can bring the mixture together as a dough
3.
Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30-45 minutes
4.
Grease a 9″ round quiche tin with Vegetable fat or butter and preheat the oven to 200C
5.
Roll out the pastry and blind bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked and just turning golden
6.
Once out of the oven, trim the edges to neaten and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes
Quiche
7.
Mix together the remaining eggs, white and double cream. Stir in the bacon, mozzarella, parsley and a generous helping of black pepper
8.
Pour over the cooked pastry base and sprinkle the walnuts over the top
9.
Bake for 35 minutes, turning half way round so the cook is even
10.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.