dinner:

pumpkin bacon and kale quiche

Published 15th June 2017

A quiche is a dish that I love. It can be packed full of veggies and had on its own, it can be served with a side salad. It’s a ‘fancy’ lunch or an easy dinner, and best of all, it can be made in advance and is still super tasty cold or just warm as well as hot.

If we are having quiche for dinner, I will usually make it when the kids are having their nap and reheat it at dinner time. In this instance, I made it the night before and reheated it in 3 minutes when I got home from work – super easy to feed a family at the busy end of the day.

 
 
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The pastry I have used here is Stephanie Alexander’s short crust pastry, which, let’s face it, is just butter, flour and water – not really nutritious, but definitely delicious. If you are looking for a way to eat quiche that is more friendly to your waistline, I would suggest using filo pastry – at least 4-5 sheets to hold the filling, or you can skip the pastry altogether and go for a frittata. If you don’t want to make the pastry from scratch, use the reduced fat puff pastry you can get from the supermarket.

Quiche has always been a crowd pleaser with the kids, and if it seems like it’s not going to be, it will be referred to as egg and bacon pie.

Enjoy xx

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

Serves 6

Stephanie Alexander’s Shortcrust Pastry

  • 180g unsalted butter

  • 240g plain flour

  • pinch of salt

  • 1/4 cup water

Filling

  • 400g pumpkin, cut into 1 cm cubes

  • 1 onion, finely sliced

  • 3 rashers bacon, fat trimmed, diced

  • 1/3 bunch of kale, stems trimmed, leaves finely chopped

  • 5 eggs

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • Salt and pepper

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare a 26cm pie dish and line a baking tray with baking paper.

  2. Place the pumpkin onto a baking tray with baking paper, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for ~40 minutes or until golden brown.

  3. To make the pastry, place the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter to a crumb like mixture.

  4. Make a well in the centre and add the water. Work with a wooden spoon or spatula until it comes together. Using your hands, press the mixture together. Press into a flat disc and cover in plastic wrap, refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

  5. Roll dough out to the size of the dish and press into the dish, using flour as needed. Lightly prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork.

  6. Blind bake – place baking paper over the pastry and top with baking beads (if you don’t have baking beads use dry chickpeas or other bean). Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper and the beads and cook for a further 10 minutes. When golden, remove from the oven and reduce heat to 180°C.

  7. For the filling, heat a large frypan over medium heat and add 1 tbs olive oil. Add the bacon and cook for ~5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the onion and cook for a further 5-7 minutes or until bacon looks well cooked and onion is translucent.

  8. Add the chopped kale and cook, stirring until kale is wilted.

  9. Add in the cooked pumpkin, stir through and remove from heat.

  10. Place bacon and pumpkin mixture into the base of the pastry case.

  11. In a medium sized bowl, lightly beat eggs, milk and salt and pepper. Pour over the top of the bacon and vegetables.

  12. Place in the oven and cook until egg is firm, ~30-40 minutes.

  13. Serve as is or with a side salad.