National Picnic Week pt1 - Leek, Bacon and Mushroom Gruyere Quiche

It’s been raining in the North West of England and I was wondering how on earth I was going to put together this blog all about picnics when everything would get rather wet and soggy!

Luckily for us Coeliacs, every day is a picnic whatever the weather! I am always hungry so I need to pack a picnic whenever I go out because I don’t know when I will find gluten free food again. Supermarkets are getting better at providing “on the go” gluten free food but it is never guaranteed.

So, I hope this blog will come in useful as I share some tips and recipes for keeping some “ready to go, pull out the freezer” tasty snacks made with Juvela Gluten Free White Mix. They’re suitable for a family picnic, fun days out or if you’re heading for a road trip summer holiday.

I recommend investing in some small 300ml containers for freezing portions of quiche or cake, so if you do decide on a last-minute day out, you can get your picnic together in a few minutes. I use these containers for salad too as we all like different things in our salad and if everyone has their own little container, then it makes those who are gluten free, less likely to feel left out if they’re not always the only one eating their own food! It is also easy to hand out to everyone and saves on space. If you are out walking, then each person could carry their own lunch too.

Fruit and nuts are an excellent snack food to carry around with you, to take on a picnic or on holiday. If you’re unsure what will be available in the supermarkets, you can always be sure of fruit and nuts to keep you going!  

Leek, Bacon and Mushroom Gruyere Quiche

My favourite picnic food has got to be quiche. It’s filling and easy to make, nutritiously filled with any vegetables you like. It is also great to freeze in portions, so it makes for easy and quick picnic food. Juvela Gluten Free White Mix makes the best pastry ever! It really surprised me when I first tried the recipe from the Juvela website. I had tried gluten free pastry before and found it to be like leather to eat and quite tasteless. Juvela pastry tastes like it should; buttery and melt in the mouth!

Ingredients

6oz Juvela Gluten Free White Mix

3oz butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling:

300g unsmoked back bacon, chopped

2 leeks, washed and sliced

250g chestnut mushrooms, washed and sliced

100g gruyere cheese, finely grated

2 large eggs

300mls double cream

Ground pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180’C

Mix together the Juvela White Mix and the butter, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add enough of the egg slowly until it comes together in a ball.

Roll out onto a lightly “gluten free” floured surface. I like to roll mine in between two sheets of baking paper as you can get it nice and thin. I like thin pastry but roll it to how thin you like!

Using the baking paper, carefully turn the pastry upside down on top of a round quiche dish.

Carefully push the pastry into the edges. If it breaks, don’t worry, use some pastry to fill in the gaps. No one will ever know!

Bake in the oven for about 4 minutes until the pastry is just starting to bake through.

In a large frying pan, fry the bacon until starting to turn golden.

Add the leeks and mushrooms and fry until softened and cooked through.

Put the bacon, leeks and mushrooms into the pastry case.

Sprinkle the gruyere cheese on top.

In a blender or mixer, whizz up the eggs and cream with the pepper and pour over the vegetables and cheese.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until it is golden and puffed up and cooked through. Leave to cool, slice into portions and freeze in containers, ready to get out and thaw as needed.