I Made the King’s Coronation Recipe and, TBH, It's a Royal Pain

King Charles III's Coronation is drawing closer by the day, and what better way to get in the patriotic spirit than to partake in a royal-inspired recipe? Whilst Queen Elizabeth II gave us coronation chicken ahead of her landmark celebration in 1953, Charles and Camilla have gone down the vegetarian route as the royal family released their official recipe on 18 April in celebration of the Coronation Big Lunch.

Previously, the infamous curry-inspired chicken dish, which sees chicken mixed with lashings of mayonnaise and studded with sultanas, was launched in anticipation of the late Queen's official luncheon for her coronation, with the recipe still being replicated in supermarket sandwiches across the country to this day. With sustainability being such a big talking point in 2023, and one of King Charles's topics of interest, it's understandable that the King and Queen Consort would want to promote a lower food carbon footprint with a veggie recipe on their big day.

Enter: The Coronation Quiche. This French-inspired dish is described as "a deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and delicate flavours of spinach, broad beans and fresh tarragon" by the official royal family website. Although I love a quiche as much as the next person, it is worth saying that the recipe received some backlash online for choosing a recipe which relies on eggs during a national egg shortage.

"Wtf? Could you get a more out of touch idea than the king choosing a 'coronation dish' that relies on eggs in the middle of a bloody massive egg shortage caused by the next pandemic threat of avian flu??? They're not on the same planet, are they?," one person tweeted, while another wrote: "Coronation quiche when there's an egg shortage lmaoooo. They're so tone deaf it's comical." Thankfully, I still had some eggs in my cupboard, so thought that this would be a great opportunity to see if the recipe is any match for the late Queen Elizabeth's long-loved dish.

Truth be told, I'm not really a fan of coronation chicken. I don't like any sandwich fillers or dishes smothered in mayonnaise, so the coronation quiche didn't exactly have big boots to fill. But what did immediately strike me was that the recipe appeared to have few ties with the UK's multiculturalism, unlike coronation chicken, which was said to be a nod to the commonwealth due to the spices used.

After gathering any ingredients that I didn't already have at home (who has tarragon lying around?), I began to measure out my ingredients. I'm not going to lie, I don't have time to make shortcrust pastry by hand. Instead, I effortlessly rolled out my pre-rolled pastry and lined my pastry case before blind baking (which simply means to pre-bake a pastry case without any filling) for 15 minutes. Do not skip this step, unless you like soggy pastry.

Whilst that was in the oven, I chopped up the tarragon ready to be added to my mixture. I have to add, as a woman of Italian-American descent, I really had to fight the urge not to add onions and garlic. Next, I beat together the eggs, milk, cream, tarragon, and added salt and pepper, before shedding a tear for the lack of other herbs and spices the recipe called for. As a self-confessed cheese obsessive (who's also actually lactose intolerant, but who's keeping tabs?), I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer amount of dairy goodness that went into the recipe - and it certainly came through with the finished product.

Brits are notorious for overcooking vegetables, so I made the executive decision to put the spinach into the quiche without cooking it beforehand. But I couldn't escape the arduous task of pre-cooking the broad beans, which seemed pointless since they add a needless layer of sticky texture – not to mention the awful smell which flooded my kitchen after cooking them. Thankfully, the end result was more than edible. The cheesy, creamy filling really came through, but I could have given the quiche an extra five minutes in the oven for that satisfying pastry crunch. Keep reading for the full coronation quiche recipe, and don't forget tp check out the other limited-edition coronation food launching this month.

Coronation Quiche

The Royal Family

Ingredients

1. For the pastry:
   125g plain flour
   Pinch of salt
   25g cold butter, diced
   25g lard
   2 tablespoons milk
   Or 1 x 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry

1. For the filling:
   125ml milk
   175ml double cream
   2 medium eggs
   1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon,
   Salt and pepper
   100g grated cheddar cheese,
   180g cooked spinach, lightly chopped
   60g cooked broad beans or soya beans

Directions

To make the pastry:

1. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl; add the fats and rub the mixture together using your finger tips until you get a sandy, breadcrumb like texture.
2. Add the milk a little at a time and bring the ingredients together into a dough.
3. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
4. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle a little larger than the top of the tin and approximately 5mm thick.
5. Line the tin with the pastry, taking care not to have any holes or the mixture could leak.
6. Cover and rest for a further 30 minutes in the fridge.
   1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
   2. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper, add baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, before removing the greaseproof paper and baking beans.
   3. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
   4. Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and seasoning.
   5. Scatter 1/2 of the grated cheese in the blind-baked base, top with the chopped spinach and beans and herbs, then pour over the liquid mixture.
   6. If required, gently give the mixture a delicate stir to ensure the filling is evenly dispersed but be careful not to damage the pastry case.
   7. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden.

Information

Category

Pastries

Cuisine

English/Scottish/Irish

Yield

6 servings