…and longs hours huddling over the oven. Did I mention the roasted vegetable quiche? Yes. Yum.
How unwintery does my kitchen look in that picture?! I love my speedlight. Ok, so let me show you how miserable it has actually been the last, oh, week.
Every.
Freakin.
Day.
Above is a picture of our driveway, so full of puddleage that you can see the reflection of the fence.
Oh, and it’s also windy.
Oh, and so dark we have to have lights on during the day – those are the living room lights reflected in the window.
And damp. So. Damp. Those are mushrooms growing on our lawn, people! I’m not going to risk eating them, though.
Anyway, where were we?
Ah, yes, back to that warm kitchen.
Oh, this is one pretty pie. If you’re in NZ, grab the last of the season’s red peppers. It’ll be the last red vegetable you’ll eat, unless you count beetroot, but I consider that more of a deep magenta.
So, onto our venture of roast vegetables (omg, roasted red peppers) and lusciously soft eggs held together with a herby, flaky, crisp pastry. That’s made with butter. Because you’re not going to buy the pastry are you? That would make me sad. Especially since this pastry doesn’t involve leaving the house, and is so easy and soooooooo good. In a healthy way too, since I made mine a little wholemeal (it makes the crispness last longer and tastes a whole, no pun intended, lot better).
Just in case you are wondering, yes, this is the sort of thing cafes charge you about $7-$8 a piddly slice for, except their pastry isn’t as squeal-worthy. It isn’t! Now go make pie.
Roasted vegetable quiche
makes a hefty 9″ wide quiche, 2″ thick (5cm) quiche.
You will need a tart pan with removable bottom, or you must line your tart pan with foil or baking paper so you can get it out without breaking it. Trust me on this.
Roast vegetables
- 2c diced (2.5cm/1″ cubes) pumpkin
- 3 medium potatoes, sliced (4mm/1/8″ thick)
- 2 large onions, cut into 8 wedges
- 4 small or equivalent red peppers, sliced into 2.5cm/1″ wide strips
- oil
Preheat oven to 200C (400F) with one rack on the very bottom and one rack on the top, each holding a roasting tray drizzled with oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan, not too generously). Once up to temperature, remove the bottom roasting dish and add the potatoes and pumpkin, tossing to coat. Be careful not to get yourself with the hot oil. Make sure all the potatoes and pumpkin are on a single layer, but prioritise the potatoes. Place the roasting dish back in the oven.
Remove the top roasting dish and add the onions and peppers, tossing to coat in the oil. Be careful not to get yourself with the hot oil. Place back in the oven.
Let all the vegetables cook for 20 minutes, untouched.Meanwhile, make the pastry.
Flaky pie pastry
- 50g butter, cubed
- 1/4 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
- optional: 1/2 tsp mixed herbs
- 1/2 c white flour (any white flour will be fine)
- 1/2 c wholemeal/wholewheat flour
- cold water (1/4c to start)
Using a pastry cutter or a fork, rub the butter, salt, flour and herbs together until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, although some lumps of butter in the mixture are ideal (no bigger than 1cm/1/2″). Add water and mix with a spoon or fork to bring it together. At first it will just be a shaggy mess. Now get your hands in there, and squeeze the bits together. You should feel a softish dough form, about the same toughness as play dough. If not, you may need to add more water – do this a teaspoon at a time, mixing a little after each addition. You want the bowl to be devoid of flour but the dough shouldn’t feel wet. Once the dough looks well incorporated, shape into a smooth ball and press to form a disc. Refrigerate while you prep the egg filling.
Egg filling
- 6 good quality eggs
- 1/2c cream (the whip-able kind)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- handful chopped fresh flat parsley or spring onion (scallions) or chives
- optional: about 50-100g cheese, grated, for topping
Whisk eggs, cream and salt together until slightly frothy, but not foamy, on top (with large bubbles). Set aside.
It’s probably time to check on the vegetables. You want the red peppers to be soft and the onions to be starting to get golden. If not quite there yet, shake and mix, and place back in the oven for ten or so minutes. Shake the potatoes/pumpkin, and check their bottoms. Potato slices should be slightly golden on the bottom. Flip and return to oven for another ten or so minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the crust.
Flour a working surface and your cold dough disc. Roll out to the width of your pan plus the length of the sides multiplied by two. Make sure you ease the circle off the working surface every now and then to make sure it’s not sticking. Dust with flour as required. If your tart pan doesn’t have a removable bottom, line with aluminium foil. Pop the pastry circle into your tart pan, fit snugly into the fluted (wavy bits) edges. Press off the very edge if you want a perfect edge. Place the pie shell in the freezer while you see to your vegetables.
Check on vegetables – they should be done by now. Remove from oven and set aside. Rearrange a rack in your oven to the centre. Pop your crust in for about 15-20 minutes, until the edges are golden but the middle is puffed up and still soft.Transfer all the vegetables to one roasting dish.The next few steps in this paragraph need to be done as QUICKLY as you can. Dump all the vegetables in the crust. Pour over the egg mixture, then sprinkle with flat parsley and top with grated cheese. Place in the oven, centre rack.
Bake for about 25-40 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the crust starts getting dark before the centre is set, reduce the oven temp to 180C (355F). Once cooked, let cool for about 5 minutes before attempting to remove from pan. Place on a wooden chopping board or plastic chopping board covered with a clean tea towel. Slice with a large, non-serrated chefs knife.
Yep, we ate a quarter each on its own for dinner. Soooo. Goooood. Meal in a pie!
Ohhhhhh yeaaaaahhhhh. Screw you, winter.
