Hi cooking buddies!
A good friend of mine commented to me today that on my recent recipe post for the “Pulled roast chicken, vegetable and goat’s cheese quiche” in my method I wrote:
“Line your quiche dish and blind bake your pastry…” She thought that maybe some people might not actually know what that meant. Oops – sorry guys.
Here is “Blind baking a pastry base 101”
- Preheat your oven to a moderate heat (~150 deg fan-forced or ~170 deg non-fan)
- Get your quiche dish and line it with baking paper (you actually don’t have to do this, you can just spray it with oil but I find it’s easier to clean my dish afterwards this way)
- Lie your sheet of pastry down on the baking paper, overlapping as you need to to cover the bottom (and pressing to join edges)
- Remember to leave a bit of overhang over the sides of the dish as the pastry SHRINKS as you bake it
- Place another sheet of baking paper OVER the raw pastry and weigh it down. You have to do this otherwise the pastry puffs up (hence it’s called “puff” pastry). Most people use rice or dry beans/lentils to weigh it down, but I use these little stones. I have had them for at least 10 years and use them frequently for this purpose. So much easier to handle than rice, that tends to go everywhere (I am a bit messy and clumsy in the kitchen!)
- Bake your pastry in the oven for about 15-20 min until it goes a light golden colour (don’t leave it so long as it goes a dark golden colour, as by the time you bake your quiche it will be 3/4 of the way to burnt)
- Fill with whatever your heart (or tastebuds) desire and bake normally; don’t forget a pastry lid if you are making a pie 😉
Hope this was helpful (and not too simple!)
Until next time – happy cooking!!!
Megs
