Ingredients:

1lb (450g) fresh asparagus

5-6 eggs

3 oz (85 g) freshly grated parmesan

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 oz (25 g) butter

Method:

Rinse any dirt off the asparagus and bend the spears towards the woody end. They’ll snap at the point where tender turns to tough. (Discard the ends or use them, well washed, when making a vegetable stock).

Cook the asparagus in salted water until cooked but still firm to the bite. Set aside to cool then cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) lengths.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl and season. Add the finely grated parmesan and then the asparagus.

Heat the grill. You’ll need it a bit later in the process.

Melt the butter in a skillet over a medium heat. When it starts to foam but before it goes brown, pour in your egg mixture. Turn the heat down very low.

When the eggs are set and only the centre is still a bit runny, pop the skillet under the grill to finish cooking the top.

Turn onto a plate and cut into wedges to serve.

We’d never heard of quiche when I was a kid. We had this – pretty much the same thing except my mum made hers with milk, not cream. Cream was for pouring over strawberries on special occasions.

My cookery heroine Katie Stewart, who died earlier this year, always swore by using self-raising flour for quiche pastry. She said it helped avoid the dreaded Soggy Bottom even though you don’t pre-bake the flan case and I’ve stuck with her recipe because it always works for me. I use a food processor because I’m heavy-handed with pastry but you can make it by hand if you want to.

Pastry ingredients:

6 oz (150g) SR flour

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 oz (38g) butter

1 1/2 oz (38g) white cooking fat/lard

About 3 tablespoons of cold water

Method:

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl or into your food processor.

If working by hand, cut the fats into the flour in cubes and rub it in with the tips of your fingers until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs. Or give it all a quick whizz in the processor.

Add two tablespoons of water and mix until the dough clings together. Add another tablespoonful if it still looks crumbly.

Remove from bowl, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice to remove the cracks.

Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge to chill for about half an hour.

Ingredients for filling:

3 eggs

1/2 pint (0.28 litres) of single cream (or 1/4 pint of double cream plus 1/4 pint of milk)

3 oz (85g ) freshly grated parmesan (or other hard cheese, cheddar is also good)

A double handful of cooked ham, cubed

1 onion, chopped and sweated in butter until soft and golden

Salt and pepper

Method:

Remove pastry from fridge 15 minutes before you want to use it (or it won’t roll out).

Heat the oven to 375F/190F/Gas 5. Put a baking tray in to heat up.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use to line a greased 8″ (20cm) loose-bottomed flan ring.

Leave a bit of an overhang at the top, the pastry will shrink in cooking and you can trim the rough bits later.

Chill the pastry again while you prepare the filling.

Chop the onion and fry gently in a bit of butter until soft and golden. Allow to cool.

Beat the eggs and cream/milk and season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt as you are going to be adding cheese and bacon.

Mix in the finely grated cheese. (If you’re using something stickier like cheddar, add it with the ham and onion).

Take your flan case out of the fridge and scatter the onion and ham evenly across the base.

Carefully pour over your egg and cheese mixture and try to get it to the oven without spilling it.

Place it on the preheated baking tray in the centre of the oven and cook for approx 40 minutes or until set but still with the faintest of wobbles in the middle.

If the filling is still uncooked but the pastry is beginning to catch, fold some kitchen foil into strips and curl them over the top edges of the pastry.

The egg will souffle up a bit in the oven then sink back down as it cools. Serve warm.