Quiche

Preheat oven to 190°c / 170°c fan oven / 375°f / gas mark 5. Grease the sides of an 8in/20cm flan tin with a loose base or a tart dish.

for the Pastry
Mix the flours, xanthan gum and salt together in a large bowl.
Rub the dairy-free margarine into the flour using the tips of your fingers until the flour resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Pour in the water a drop at a time. Mix in the water using one hand in a stirring motion or use a wooden spoon if you prefer.
Turn out onto the work top and knead the pastry briefly to bring the dough together.

Roll out and shape the pastry straight away as it becomes crumbly and hard to work with if left.
Dust the work top with gluten free flour and roll out the pastry.

Roll up the pastry over your rolling pin. Lift up and roll out over the flan dish. Push the pastry down into the sides of the flan ring and mould into shape. Take care not to have any holes in your pastry or the custard will pour through. If your pastry is really crumbly you may not have mixed in enough water.

Place a piece of tin foil into the pastry case and fill with ceramic pastry beans if you have them. If not, use dried beans (See tip).

Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes with the baking beans in, this is called blind baking. After 15 minutes, take out the baking beans. If the pastry on the bottom still looks very uncooked, put back into the oven without the baking beans for another 5 minutes.

While the pastry is cooking prepare the filling.

for the Filling
¼ -1/2 onion finely chopped
Heat a tablespoon sunflower oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook until soft. Spread over the base of your blind-baked quiche.

Vegetables – always cook any vegetable before adding to a quiche to take away the excess water and to bring out the flavour.

Tomatoes – I always cut the tomato in quarters and scoop out the juice inside before adding to a quiche otherwise you will have a soggy mess. This is not so bad if you are eating the quiche hot but definitely do this if you are serving the quiche cold. You can use thin whole slices to place on top of the quiche before baking for presentation.

When you have prepared your filling of choice, arrange inside the pastry case. Sprinkle grated dairy-free cheese on top.
Season with salt and pepper and any herbs you want to add. Beat the eggs with the dairy-free milk and pour over the filling until it comes just under the top of the pastry case.
Place in oven and cook for 20 to 40 minutes depending on how deep your quiche is.
To test if cooked stick a knife into the centre to see if it has set.
Serve hot or cool down, cover and place in the fridge for up to three days.