nic at night

In September, we decided to make quiche for the first time. I don't remember exactly what motivated us; we might have had a lot of eggs hanging around. At any rate, we made two, and they were tasty.

Gruyere Quiche, from Molly Katzen's Sunlight Cafe

crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tbsp cold water

[The instructions for this are only given for an electric mixer, so I'll just tell you my own, in case you don't know how to make a pie crust by hand.] Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter, until the mixture is uniform and resembles coarse meal (no bits of butter larger than peas). Add water and mix with a fork until it sticks together into a ball. Roll out, and place inside pie plate; refrigerate crust until filling is ready.

filling
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups sliced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dry mustard [I used mustard seeds, as I didn't have dried mustard]
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 cup (packed) grated gruyere [I used emmenthaler, as we couldn't find gruyere]
3 large eggs
1 cup milk [I used rice milk]
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Saute onion in oil for 5 minutes, then add salt, herbs and mustard; cover pan, lower heat, and cook for 15 more minutes. Stir vinegar and bell pepper into the onions, raise heat to medium, and cook uncovered for another five minutes, then remove from heat. Whisk together eggs, milk, and black pepper to taste.

To assemble quiche, sprinkle cheese into crust, then spoon vegetable mixture on top of the cheese. Slowly pour milk mixture over the vegetables and cheese. Bake on a baking tray in the lower third of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes [longer for rice milk or watery fillings] or until custard is set. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.


Zucchini Quiche, adapted from above recipe and one in The Vegetarian Epicure

Follow directions as above, except omit all spices except salt and pepper, and substitute:
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 lb zucchini, sliced and blanched [cook 3 minutes in boiling salted water, then drain]

To assemble quiche, mix cheeses and sprinkle over bottom of the crust. Layer cooked zucchini slices on top of cheeses. Pour milk mixture over vegetables and cheese. Bake as above [this quiche took longer to bake, with the more watery vegetables].

Both quiches were tasty and we enjoyed them for almost every meal for a good week. The first I found salty, and a bit strongly-flavored for my taste (I'm not a fan of the Swiss cheeses), but Dana really enjoyed. The second I liked a lot, as it was more like a zucchini pie or frittata, but Dana found it mild and not that interesting (he's not a fan of the zucchini).