Celebrate the Coronation with ‘In-Season’ UK Watercress from Hampshire and Dorset!
The 2023 UK watercress gets underway almost at the same moment that King Charles III receives his crown.
What better way to celebrate the start of the ‘green’ King’s reign than with lashings of the green stuff that is so good for you and grown in Hampshire and Dorset.
For anyone planning a street party or just celebrations with the family, We’ve got a couple of simple quiche alternatives to the official Coronation Quiche – soggy spinach replaced with watercress of course! Plus, delicious salads to accompany them, one patriotically red, white and blue and another with a passing nod to the classic Coronation Chicken. You can find the salads here.
Green Quiche with Watercress, Leeks & Peas (Vegetarian)
Serves up to 8 | Prep time: 10 mins/Cook time: 25 mins
Ingredients
1 pre-rolled shortcrust pastry sheet
4 eggs
1 leek, chopped
60g watercress, chopped
80g peas
150ml Milk
Olive Oil
Salt & pepper
Grated cheese
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°. Line a pie tin with the shortcrust pastry, making sure there are no tears. Prod the base of the pastry with a fork several times. Cover the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill with either baking beads or rice. Blind bake the pastry for 6-8 mins, until cooked but not too golden-brown.
Meanwhile, gently fry the leek in a little olive oil until soft. Add a pinch of salt to season.
In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together with a pinch of black pepper, then add the leeks, watercress and peas.
Pour this mixture in to the pastry case, sprinkle with some grated cheese and bake for about 25mins.
Fun and Simple Mini Individual Quiches
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Makes 9
Ingredients
30g watercress, roughly chopped
6 eggs
3 large tortilla wraps (either plain or watercress flavoured)
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 slices honey roast ham
More watercress to serve
Salt and pepper
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180ᵒC. Take a 12cm round cookie cutter and cut out 9 circles from your tortilla wraps. Push the circles into the holes of a muffin tin.
- Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk them together along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add in the chopped watercress and mix together.
- Tip the egg mix into a jug and pour carefully into the tortilla cases, not quite filling to the top. Cut the ham slices into squares and place a square on top of each case, then top with half a cherry tomato. Place the quiches into the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, or until egg is set and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before removing from the tin.
- Serve warm with more watercress on the side.
Did you know?
Watercress is one of the healthiest vegetables around? Pumped full of over 50 vital vitamins and minerals. Gram for gram it has more vitamin C than an orange, more calcium than milk, more folate than a banana and more vitamin E than broccoli.
Watercress is also rich in iron and in Vitamin A, (nearly twice as much as spinach) and because of the high levels of vitamin C and A it possesses, this iron is more easily absorbed than most other plant-based irons, making watercress an essential addition to any vegetarian or vegan diet.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how healthy this salad leaf is, but enough, we want to party!
God Save The King! And remember to eat your greens!
To discover more about the health benefits of watercress, visit www.thewatercresscompany.com or for more recipe inspiration go to www.watercress.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/LoveWatercress/or https://www.instagram.com/lovewatercress/
Photography by Lara Jane Thorpe
