Vegetable quiche recipe: A customisable dinner thought

I can’t inform you the final time I made quiche. It’s not that I don’t prefer it – an excellent one, eggy and creamy and lightweight, with a flaky crust – is a factor of magnificence. However once I’m within the temper for savoury baked egg dishes, I’m extra of a frittata cook dinner, loving how adaptable and no-fuss that dish may be.

However my pie-baking itch flares up each vacation season, and a quiche is admittedly nothing greater than a savoury pie (or tart), so once I noticed Jamie Oliver’s recipe for what he merely known as vegetable quiche in his new ebook Collectively, I took a better look. Oliver gives two choices on this recipe – one for butternut squash and one for mushrooms – and quite than incorporating both in chunks within the filling, he has you puree the cooked veg with the requisite eggs, cream and cheese earlier than baking.

I’ll confess: this isn’t a typical recipe for this column, as a result of it takes too lengthy to be possible on any given weeknight. However that’s provided that you make it begin to end. As a substitute, you may divide up the work as you see match: one choice is to make the easy pastry one evening, cook dinner the filling on one other and bake the quiche on the third, refrigerating your work in between.

In the case of that pastry, Oliver’s recipe features a method I’ve been that means to attempt after seeing it on numerous episodes of The Nice British Baking Present. After you lay the pastry into the tart pan, as an alternative of slicing off the surplus earlier than baking, you permit it on, urgent it over the sting of the pan and letting it dangle, and blind-bake it that manner (with out the filling, and with pie weights to carry all the things in place). As soon as it cools, you utilize a pointy paring knife to chop the pastry off flush with the sting of the tin.

The good factor about this methodology is that it helps forestall shrinkage – one thing that appears to all the time afflict my tart crusts, even when I’m cautious to sit back the dough and to withstand stretching it. Since this quiche makes use of a beneficiant quantity of filling for the ultimate bake, any shrinkage would render the tart too shallow to carry all of it. Belief me, I attempted it each methods, and I’ll by no means return.

As a result of the quiche is on the denser aspect, it boasts a super-creamy texture approaching that of a savoury cheesecake. It additionally takes a little bit longer to chill – and would possibly even style higher chilly than heat, making this a terrific choice not just for vacation or different good dinners or brunches however for leftover lunches, whether or not you’re brown-bagging it or not. I’m already imagining saving the concept for hotter climate, when it might make an excellent picnic merchandise.

In case you’re questioning which technique to go right here – squash or mushroom – let me describe the variations, past the apparent color. The squash is a contact denser, given the starchiness of the starring vegetable, however with a lighter flavour. The mushroom finally ends up a little bit lighter in texture however deeper in flavour, nearly like a fake liver pâté. For those who’d like, saute a couple of mushroom slices for the garnish, simply to sign to your company what’s inside – or allow them to style and have a guess.

Creamy butternut squash or mushroom quiche

Serves: 12

Energetic time: 1 hour | Whole time: 3 hours

Make forward: Tightly wrap and refrigerate the pastry dough for as much as 5 days or freeze for as much as 3 months. Refrigerate the baked tart shell for as much as 2 days. Refrigerate the filling for as much as 5 days. Refrigerate the assembled, baked and cooled quiche for as much as 3 days.

Storage notes: Refrigerate leftovers for as much as 3 days.

Components:

205g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

9 tbsp (128g) chilly unsalted butter, lower into small items

½ tsp positive salt, divided, plus extra to style

120ml chilly water, divided, plus extra as wanted

800g butternut squash or combined mushrooms

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus extra for greasing

170g yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

6 massive eggs

7 tbsp heavy cream

113g cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

60g crumbly goat cheese

2 recent thyme sprigs

Technique:

Evenly flour your work floor.

In a meals processor, mix the flour, butter and ¼ teaspoon of salt, and pulse till the combination resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add 60ml of the chilly water and pulse for a couple of extra seconds till the dough simply begins to return collectively, including extra water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if wanted. Switch the dough to the work floor and push and pat (with out kneading) right into a spherical. Wrap it in plastic or beeswax wrap and refrigerate for half-hour.

Prep your chosen vegetable: Peel, fastidiously halve and seed the squash, then lower into 2cm chunks. Or clear, trim and slice the mushrooms (eradicating and composting the stems for those who use shiitakes).

In a big frying pan over medium warmth, warmth 1 tablespoon of the oil till it shimmers. Add the onion, garlic and remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and cook dinner, stirring often, till the greens begin to soften, about 3 minutes. If utilizing squash, add it together with the remaining 60ml of water, cut back the warmth to medium, cowl and cook dinner, stirring sometimes, till the squash may be very delicate, 20 minutes. Uncover, enhance the warmth to medium-high, and cook dinner, stirring, till the additional water has evaporated, 2 to three minutes. If utilizing mushrooms, cook dinner uncovered over medium-high warmth, utilizing tongs to toss often, till they wilt, then cut back the warmth to medium and cook dinner, stirring and scraping the underside of the pan sometimes, till they’re delicate and beginning to brown, 20 minutes. Style, and season with extra salt as wanted. Flip off the warmth and let cool.

Place a rack in the midst of the oven and preheat to 220C. Evenly oil a 25cm quiche pan with a detachable backside.

Roll out the pastry on the flour-dusted floor till it is about 35cm in diameter and just below 0.5cm thick. Gently roll it up across the rolling pin, then unroll it over the oiled pan and ease it into the edges, curling the surplus pastry tightly over the sides. Prick the bottom throughout with a fork, high with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with cash, beans or different pie weights. Switch to a big, rimmed baking tray and bake for quarter-hour, or till the pastry is ready, then take away the paper and weights and proceed baking for about 10 minutes, or till flippantly browned and agency. Cool, then use a pointy paring knife to trim off the surplus pastry.

Switch the squash or mushroom combination to a blender. Add the eggs, cream and cheddar and puree till easy.

Pour or scrape the filling (the mushroom will probably be thicker than the squash) into the baked and cooled pastry shell, being cautious to not overfill (you’ll have a little bit squash filling left over; be happy to pour it right into a ramekin or two and bake alongside the quiche). Crumble over the goat cheese. Rub the thyme sprigs with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil, then choose the ideas and leaves over the quiche.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or till the quiche is ready within the centre (it ought to really feel agency to the contact, with little to no wobbling). Switch to a cooling rack and let cool within the tart pan for at the very least half-hour, then unmold and serve heat, or let cool utterly, refrigerate, and serve chilly (if you wish to forestall the quiche from cracking, you may depart it within the oven to chill, turning off the oven and opening the door barely).

Vitamin data per serving (1 slice)

Utilizing squash: energy: 311; complete fats: 20g; saturated fats: 11g; ldl cholesterol: 141mg; sodium: 225mg; carbohydrates: 23g; dietary fibre: 2g; sugar: 2g; protein: 9g.

Utilizing mushrooms: energy: 296; complete fats: 21g; saturated fats: 11g; ldl cholesterol: 141mg; sodium: 226mg; carbohydrates: 18g; dietary fibre: 1g; sugar: 2g; protein: 11g.

This evaluation is an estimate primarily based on obtainable substances and this preparation. It mustn’t substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s recommendation.

Tailored from ‘Collectively’ by Jamie Oliver (Flatiron Books, 2021).

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