Serve warm or at room temperature.
Bake early in the morning, and serve for brunch!
With quiche, serving at room temperature is perfect,
and if baked early, it gives your kitchen a chance
to cool down in the heat of summer.
Spread the cooled sauteed vegetables evenly
over the pre-baked and cooled crust.
Evenly cover your filling with the
shredded gruyere cheese.
Add the egg and milk mixture carefully, as to not
overflow the crust.
If you feel more comfortable with filling it once
it is placed on the oven rack, that is also an option.
There are many baked breakfast items that can be prepared for
a group of guests. I love having a quiche, because it can be
served at room temperature. That means you can do it ahead,
and not be standing in a hot kitchen when the guests arrive.
Even though there are a few steps to assembling a quiche,
they do not all have to be done at once.
The crust dough can be prepared and lined in your
tart pan, and frozen, a few days ahead.
Then just bake the night before, let cool, and cover.
In the morning add your prepared fillings.
The vegetables can be sauteed the night before and the cheese
can be grated a day or two ahead as well.
If you happen to have leftovers, they will keep for a day or two
in the refrigerator, and they make a very nice lunch item with
and addition of a small salad.
As Always,
ENJOY!
ingreDIENTS
- 1 recipe pie dough, or a prepared frozen pie crust
- 1-1 1/2 cups Sauteed summer vegetables, such as zucchini, tomatoes and green onions
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper to taste (we used about 1/2 teaspoon)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup grated gruyere or other cheese
1Rollout the dough, form into a tart pan, then freeze: If you are making your own pie crust, roll out the pie dough into a 12-inch round. Place it in a 10-inch wide, 1 1/2-inch high tart pan, pressing the dough into the corners.
Use a rolling pin to roll over the surface of the tart pan to cleanly cut off the excess dough from the edges.
Freeze for at least half an hour before blind-baking.
2 Pre-bake the frozen crust: (also called "blind" baking) If you are using a store-bought frozen crust, follow the directions on the package for pre-baking.
If you are pre-baking a homemade crust, preheat oven to 350°F. Line the frozen crust with heavy duty aluminum foil. Allow for a couple inches to extend beyond the sides of the tart or pie pan.
Fill tart pan with dry beans, sugar, or rice.
If you are using a pan with a removable bottom, place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven to catch any spillage.
Bake for 40 minutes. Then remove from oven, remove the pie weights (the easiest way to do this is to lift up the foil by the edges) and the foil, and set aside.
3 Cook the vegetables: Heat a large frying pan on medium heat. Gently sautee diced vegetables, just for 1-2 minutes to light soften, but not cook all the way through. Cool mixture. Store in airtight container in refrigerator, if preparing ahead.
4 Preheat oven to 350°F.
5 Whisk eggs, add nutmeg, salt, pepper, cream, milk: Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the nutmeg, salt, and black pepper and whisk a little more. Add the milk and cream and whisk vigorously to incorporate and introduce a little air into the mix – this keeps the texture of the quiche light and fluffy.
6 Put filling in pre-baked crust: Arrange the sauteed vegetables and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust.
Whisk the egg-milk mixture hard again for a few seconds, then pour it gently into the pie crust.
You want the vegetables and cheese to be suspended in the mix, so you might need to gently stir it around just a little.
7 Bake: Put the quiche into the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. (If using pan with removable bottom, be sure to place a rimmed baking sheet underneath.)
Check for doneness after 30 minutes by gently jiggling the quiche. It should still have just a little wiggle. (It will finish setting while it cools.) Cool on a wire rack.
Eat at room temperature, cold (a quiche will keep for several days in the fridge), or reheated gently in a 200-degree oven.
