Stilton and spinach quiche with walnut pastry

Who is loving the Great British Bake Off at the moment? I love it! I’m so inspired by the bakers every week - their creativity and support of each other is such lovely viewing and the things they come up with are totally mind blowing.

Watching GBBO made me want to get in the kitchen and try some baking with these California Walnuts* who I teamed up with recently.

Walnuts are nutritional powerhouses packed with good fats, essential omega-3s and lots of vitamins and minerals so they’re a great simple addition to dishes if you’re looking to crack wellness.

Of course you know me, all that baking inspiration and I still went for a savoury recipe! I’ve made a few quiches at home before but never really attempted my own pastry so I thought now would be a great opportunity, spurred on by the successes (and failures!) of the GBBO contestants.

To make them an integral part of this recipe and not just for decoration I blitzed some of the walnuts up and made them part of the pastry. Inside I filled the quiche with blue cheese and spinach and I went for crème fraîche rather than cream for a lighter and fluffier filling.

No soggy bottoms here Paul and Prue! Let me know what you think of this recipe.

SERVES: Makes 8-10 slices
PREP TIME: 30 minutes
COOK TIME: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the pastry

• 200g/7oz wholemeal flour

• 100g/3½oz cold unsalted butter

• 50g/2oz walnuts, finely ground (you can do this easily in a NutriBullet or other food processor)

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 2 free-range eggs

For the filling

• 250g/9oz baby spinach

• 7 new potatoes

• 4 free-range eggs

• 250ml/9oz crème fraîche

• Zest of one lemon

• Pinch of nutmeg

• Pinch of cayenne pepper

• 25g/1oz Parmesan, finely grated

• handful fresh thyme, chopped

• 150g/5½oz Stilton, crumbled 

• salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the pastry, tip the flour and butter into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Rub the mixture together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the walnuts and paprika.
   

2. Slowly add enough of the beaten egg to bind the mixture (you may not need all of it). Knead the pastry briefly until smooth, flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
   

3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
   

4. Roll the pastry out between two sheets of cling film, remove the cling film and use the pastry to line a 25cm/10in tart tin.
   

5. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake for a further five minutes, or until pale golden-brown.
   

6. Meanwhile, for the filling, wilt the spinach in a saucepan with a little water. Set aside to cool, then squeeze out the excess water and chop finely. 
   

7. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until just cooked, then cool and slice into 0.5cm/¼in slices.
   

8. Whisk the eggs in a bowl, then whisk in the cream, lemon zest, nutmeg, cayenne and parmesan. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then stir in the spinach and half of the thyme.
   

9. Arrange the potato slices in the bottom of the pastry case and sprinkle over the Stilton. Spoon in the spinach mixture and sprinkle over the remaining thyme.
   

10. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until golden-brown and just set. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

This recipe is an adaptation from the BBC Food website.

*I was paid to create a recipe for California Walnuts. All thoughts are my own.

Like this recipe and want to save it? Pin to Pinterest so you can find it later!