Cooking with Kelly: Fall #QuicheFeast Recipe

Fall is in the air, so quiche is in my oven. The fine folks of Cabot Creamery partnered with King Arthur Flour to come up with #QuicheFeast, a competition to crown the best culinary creation on crust (I like alliteration and I will not scale back on it). I wanted to make something simple with ingredients I had on-hand, but that was seasonally inspired. What I came up with was roasted butternut squashed with slow-cooked portobello mushrooms and caramelized onions coupled with fluffy eggs. The flaky crust that I speckled with extra-sharp cheddar really made the dish. My secret? Chill the dough before rolling, then again once it's in the pan. I also precooked the crust for 10 minutes at 425 degrees before adding the filling to keep it crispy.

I served this up with a nice side salad, but you could easily go brunch with a quiche by serving it alongside a fruit salad or yogurt parfait. Seems like a pretty classy offering with mimosas, too.


Be forewarned, this is a labor of love. I started the crust the night before, and roasted the veggies while I was making dinner. The crust turns out better, in my opinion, if it has time to rest and absorb the water to create the gluten. Like anything else, if you cut it into smaller steps, it's not all that daunting.

Quiche Crust Recipe
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup grated Extra Sharp Cabot Cheese
5 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed
4 Tablespoons ice water

Whisk together the flour and salt, then work in the shortening. Add the cheese and butter, and cut in until the mixture is somewhat combined. It will be an uneven mess, but stick with it. Add the water and start to mix in - it will barely hold together, so dump it all out on a silicone mat or parchment paper. Start kneading and add additional water as needed to form a cohesive dough. Roll it out into a circle and an inch thick, then refrigerate for at least a half hour to let the butter get to working.

Next, remove from the fridge and place in between two sheets of plastic wrap. Roll it out into about a 12-inch circle. Place in the pie pan, trim the edges and return to the fridge or freezer for another 10 minutes. Prebake it for 10 minutes a 425 degrees, then fill with the quiche and move on.

Fall Flavors Quiche Recipe
1/4 onion, sliced
4 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 butternut squash, cubed
1 cup chopped spinach
5 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup Cabot herb and garlic cheese, shredded

To start, I tossed the onions and mushrooms in half the oil and cooked them in a pan on low heat for 20 minutes, or until the onions were caramelized thoroughly. I added the garlic in the last 5 minutes to prevent burning. The butternut squash also got the olive oil treatment, with the addition of salt and pepper. I roasted those on a baking sheet in the oven at 400 degrees for a half hour, turning once, or until they were browned and crisp.

To assemble, whisk the eggs thoroughly with milk. This is key so that the filling floats within the eggs instead of sinking to the bottom. Fold in cheese and spinach, then add the remaining ingredients.

Pour into the pie shell and bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 375, or until the middle is set and the top shows signs of browning. Allow to cool and continue setting for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.