This is not just any old cheese and tomato quiche. Here we’ve got tomatoes, goats cheese and parmesan all wrapped up in a creamy egg filling, sitting inside a flaky, buttery crust. It’s loaded with flavour and it couldn’t be simpler.
- Creamy and rich in texture
- Delicate eggs with savoury tomatoes and cheese
- Easy to make – even the homemade pastry
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, snacks or dinner
- Make ahead for lunchboxes or picnics too
Quiche really is such a versatile recipe to have in your kitchen arsenal. Being perfect for any occasion except dessert, quiche is portable, able to be eaten hot or cold and extremely versatile. It can even be frozen.
The goats cheese and tomatoes here are loaded with umami and, contained in that creamy egg custard filling, it’s seriously yum.
If you love this, you’ll have to tried this loaded bacon and potato quiche.
Never Miss a Recipe!
Get the latest recipes straight to your inbox!
Quiche vs frittata
So, what’s the difference between quiche and frittata? A quiche is a French dish of a baked creamy egg custard, meat and vegetables inside a pastry crust. A frittata is an Italian dish of a very similar filling, without the pastry. So a frittata is just a crustless quiche that originated in Italy as opposed to France. Easy!
Ingredients you’ll need
With a homemade buttery and crisp quiche crust and fillings with rich and punchy flavours, this cheese and tomato quiche is incredibly tasty.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- The quiche pastry is made from a very simple combo of plain flour (all-purpose flour), butter, egg and water. That’s it and it’s also easy to make at home. Of course, you can use storebought pastry – shortcrust would work best – however I encourage you to try making your own shortcrust pastry at least once so you can taste the difference. Homemade really is better!
- Eggs: You can’t have quiche without eggs. I use large eggs.
- Milk: I use whole milk in this quiche. Often, quiche will use cream (thickened cream or heavy cream) for extra richness and creaminess. Feel free to use that if you prefer.
- Cheese: There is cheese in two forms in this tart and both add their own unique flavour profiles.
- Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) is strong, salty, nutty, tangy and complex in flavour. We only need a little bit in this quiche. A few shavings over the top adds something special too.
- Soft goats cheese: Goats cheese (chevre) is tangy, rich, creamy and ever so slightly sweet. It can be mild or pungent, firm or soft so it comes in many different forms. You’re looking for soft goats cheese here.
- Tomatoes: A tomato quiche is the perfect way to use up a glut of tomatoes or those at their best in the summer months but all year round, it’s still wonderful. You can use any type here too. I use a combination of cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes here and in different colours as well. You can also use regular tomatoes, roma tomatoes or heirloom tomatoes. Even those baby toms are wonderful. If using slices of large tomatoes, lay them on paper towel first to draw out a little excess moisture.
- Thyme: For a lovely herbal note, thyme is a herb with a wonderfully warming scent and flavour and it just happens to pair well with both tomatoes and goats cheese. You can use dried thyme if it’s all you can get, but reduce it by half.
- Basil: Was there ever a better combo than tomatoes and basil?! I love serving this with a scattering of fresh basil leaves. It looks beautiful as well as tastes great.
What cheese to use
Goats cheese and tomatoes are a winning combo but you can easily adjust this to your taste or what you have on hand. Turn it into a tomato and feta quiche with cubes of feta in place of the goats cheese. The parmesan can be replaced with pecorino or a good strong cheddar cheese.
How to make cheese and tomato quiche (step-by-step)
This cherry tomato quiche is not only satisfying and delicious, it also looks gorgeous with all those little tomatoes on top that look like jewels. It’s also very easy to make – even making the pastry is simple. If you are making your pastry from scratch (which I highly recommend for the very best flavour), just make sure to allow it a minimum of 2 hours or up to 3 days to chill – this will stop your pastry from shrinking too much as it bakes.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
For the quiche pastry crust:
- Blend butter and flour: In a food processor, blend together the flour and butter until the butter is in tiny pieces like rice grains.
- Add egg: Add one egg and process again, just until combined.
- Add water: With the processor on low, slowly dribble in the water until the pastry dough starts forming clumps.
- Roll: Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and carefully pull it into a smooth disk. Roll it out to about 4-5 mm thick (⅙ inch), and about 11 inches wide. Lay your rolling pin in the middle of the and fold one side over it, dusting off any excess flour on the back as you do.
- Shape: Transfer the dough to a 9 inch quiche dish and press the sides down towards the corners (as opposed to pressing the centre outward toward the corners).
- Chill: You must chill the dough – don’t skip this step as it relaxes and sets the pastry so that it doesn’t shrink too much when you bake it. 2 hours is enough but 24 hours is better and you can leave it in the fridge for up to 3 days meaning you can make your pastry shell way ahead of time.
- Blind baking: When you’re ready to assemble and bake your quiche, prick the pastry base all over with a fork (this is called docking and allows steam to escape from the base and helps it cook all the way through). Line the pastry base with a piece of baking paper and fill it with pie weights or just rice. Bake for a short time, remove the weights and paper and bake a little longer.
Now your quiche shell is ready to fill.
For the cheese and tomato quiche filling:
The filling is incredibly simple – literally chop things up and load up that tart shell, then mix up the custard filling and pour it over. Here it is in a little more detail.
- The goats cheese: Dice or crumble up the goats cheese roughly.
- The tomatoes: Wash and dry your tomatoes, slice the larger ones and leave a few small ones whole. If you’re slicing larger tomatoes, rest them on some paper towel to soak up any excess moisture.
- The egg filling: Combine the eggs, milk, parmesan, thyme, salt and pepper and give it a good whisk until completely combined.
- Assembly: Now, just layer it all up. Scatter the goats cheese over the base of the quiche crust. Pour over the egg filling, then top with all those pretty tomatoes, cut side up.
- Bake: Now bake the quiche for 30-40 minutes until cooked through and turning golden on top.
Tips and tricks
- Small bits of butter are good! Be careful not to blend the butter right into the flour. You want those small little pieces of butter that will turn into steam and expand creating a lovely flaky pastry texture.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough: While it does mean you have to think ahead, it also means you can make this dough up to 3 days ahead which is a winner in my opinion, especially since it tastes so much better than shop-bought. At least 2 hours or up to 3 days in the fridge is great.
FAQs
Being such a versatile recipe, there are really just two keys to a perfect quiche – egg to cream ratio and seasoning. Make sure you use enough eggs to set the amount of cream or milk you’re using and don’t skip seasoning with salt and pepper. Luckily, this recipe has already done that for you. Other than that, quiche is the perfect way to incorporate loads of different ingredients from meat to vegetables.
You can definitely use milk in a quiche – I always do. Cream is slightly thicker and richer in flavour but not a necessity for a good quiche. Of course, if you’re making the classic quiche Lorraine, you must use cream or it’s not quiche Lorraine.
Since the filling starts out as a liquid, the base of a quiche can become soggy if you don’t blind bake it first, so don’t skip that part. Don’t skip blind-baking! Other things that might cause a soggy quiche is excess liquid. For instance, using sliced tomatoes, where the moisture from the tomatoes can release. Make sure to put your tomatoes sliced side up or, for large slices, dry them with paper towel first. Also, if you cover a quiche while it bakes, the steam that results may make the pastry soggy around the edges.
Quiche Lorraine is filled with just ham, cheese and a creamy egg mixture – nothing else. The moment you add anything else it becomes just quiche, capiche?!
No, you don’t need or want to cover a quiche while it bakes. You want the steam to be able to escape so the crust stays crisp and you also want the top to get golden brown.
Yield and storage
This recipe serves 6-8 depending on how large you like your slices or what meal you’re serving it for.
Let the tomato and cheese quiche leftovers cool slightly, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
To freeze your tomato quiche, cut it into slices first, then place into an airtight container or large ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or in the microwave.
How to reheat quiche
To be perfectly honest, the microwave does a fine job. The crust won’t be quite as crisp though. Just a couple of minutes on high is good. If you want to keep that crispy tart shell, reheat it in the oven at 180C/350F for 10-15 minutes.
Did you try this tomato and cheese quiche recipe?
Leaving a rating and comment below the recipe is so helpful!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to the newsletter for free recipes straight to your inbox. Also, follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Ingredients
QUICHE CRUST (NOTES 2)
- 225 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (8oz / 1 ¾ cups)
- 115 g salted butter, cubed and chilled (4oz / 1 stick / ½ cup)
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1 ½ tablespoons cold water (notes 1)
FILLING
- 6 large eggs
- ⅔ cup whole milk (notes 3)
- 30 g finely grated parmesan (or cheddar) (⅓ cup lightly packed)
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, stems discarded, not packed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 300 g cherry or grape tomatoes
- 150 g soft goats cheese, crumbled or diced
- Parmesan shavings to serve
- Basil leaves to serve
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- food processor, if making the pastry
- 23cm / 9inch quiche dish (internal base measurement)
Instructions
- FOR THE HOMEMADE QUICHE CRUST:To a food processor, add the flour and butter and process until it looks a bit like lumpy flour – the pieces of butter should be about the size of a grain of rice.
- Add the egg and blitz to combine and it should now look like breadcrumbs. With the food processor on low, slowly add the water until the starts clumping together (see the post for step by step photos).
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and just pull together with your hands into a smooth round disk (handling as little as possible).
- Roll out the dough to about 4mm (⅙ inch) thick and around 11 inches wide.
- Lay the rolling pin in the middle of the dough and fold one side over the top. Dust off any excess flour, then lift the rolling pin to help you transfer the pastry to a 23cm/9inch quiche dish (internal base measurement). Press the sides down into the corners with the overhang sticking up. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- BLIND BAKE:Preheat oven temperature to 180C (160C fan) / 350F.
- Gently take the quiche shell out of the dish and sit it on a plate back in the fridge. It will hold it's shape until required. Leave the quiche dish out for 15-20 minutes before you bake. This step is to ensure the dish isn't so cold or it may crack in the oven but the pastry shell stays cold right up until baking.
- Return the quiche pastry shell to the dish. Prick the base all over with a fork. Trim off the overhang with a knife.
- Lay a sheet of baking paper into the pastry case and fill with pie weights or rice (notes).
- Bake the tart shell for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and baking weights and bake a further 8 minutes.
- PREP THE FILLING:In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, parmesan, thyme, salt and pepper until fully combined – make sure all the egg whites are completely mixed in.
- Slice the tomatoes in half leaving a few of the smaller ones whole.
- If the goats cheese is in oil, just take it out and let it drain on a plate for a couple of minutes.
- ASSEMBLE:Crumble or diced the goats cheese into the par-baked crust.
- Pour over the egg mixture.
- Top with the tomatoes, cut side up, spread evenly over the whole quiche.
- Bake for around 35 minutes, turning the quiche at the half way mark so that it cooks evenly. It's done when the top is golden and a knife inserted comes out mostly clean (not with wet egg mixture).
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- TABLESPOONS: I use an Australian standard 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons worldwide). Many countries use a 15ml tablespoon so check yours first.
- QUICHE CRUST: If you prefer, you can use a shop-bought pie shell or pastry sheets. Place pastry sheets into a quiche dish and press into the corners and side. Slice away any overhang then prick the base all over with a fork. Now continue from step 8.
- MILK: The milk can be swapped for thickened cream / heavy cream for a richer egg filling.
- PIE WEIGHTS: Pie weights are specifically made ceramic balls that weigh down the pastry as it blind bakes, sometimes called baking beans. You can also use rice or lentils then let them cool and store them for future baking as they can be reused, over and over.
- TOMATOES: If using regular-sized or larger tomatoes, slice them then lay the slices on a sheet of paper towel to remove excess moisture.
This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission for my referral, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Sugar Salt Magic.
