Everyone im my house has a cold! stuffy noses and sour throats and complaints going all around. In such circumstances I think of hearty nutritious meals to help fight it off.

This quiche has some of my favorite ingredients : chicken, mushrooms and oatmeal in a flaky buttery crust. Need I say any more? it looks really pretty once you slice it up with the different layers and the tomatoes but what is even better is the taste

I served this with some grilled tomatoes and it was scrumptious.

I know that at first this might seem like a lot of steps and ingredients but it is really simple and definitely  worth it

Pie crust

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter

3 tablespoons cold water

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

For the filling

Grilled skinless boneless chicken shredded (I used left over chicken)

layer 2 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 chopped onion

1 can mushrooms (you can use fresh)

2/3 cup instant oatmeal

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup milk (or half and half)

Shredded mozzarella cheese for the top

Layer 3

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup half-and-half cream

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon all spice

To make the crust

Pulse the flour ,salt, baking powder in the food processor.

Add diced cold butter and pulse untill mix resembles coarse crumbs

Add water slowly while pulsing…don’t over mix it (over mixing will give you a brick instead of a flaky crust).

Dump the dough onto plastic wrap. It will look something like this…

Gently gather dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Roll out dough. I roll it between two layers of parchment paper to make it easier to transfer it to the pie dish

 place in pie dish.

Prick bottom of pastry with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees F for 7 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees for 8 more minutes.

Sprinkle some mozzarella on the bottom of the pie(this will help form an insulator to prevent the crust from soaking up the liquid in the filling)

Distribute the chicken in the bottom of the crust

To make layer 2

In a pan heat the olive oil then saute the onions untill they are tender.

Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes

Add the flour and stir continuously untill the flour begins to change colour

Add the chicken stock and stir followed by the creams and then the oatmeal.

Stir untill combined and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes (it will thicken considerably)

Allow it to cool then spread it over the chicken

for layer 3

Mix the ingredients of layer 3 and spread them gently over the pie.

Sprinkle some mozzarella on the top

Bake in a preheated oven at 210 C on the middle rack for 40 minutes (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean)

To make the tomatoes simply cut them in half, drizzle in olive oil, a bit of balsamic vinegar, sprinkle some salt, pepper and some chopped basil.

Place under the broiler for 7-10 minutes