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Some amazing vegetable finds at my local Farmers Market are transformed into a delicious Autumn Harvest Quiche with mushrooms, leeks, butternut squash, bacon and sage. This dish is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner and can also be enjoyed warm, cold or even on-the-go!

Serving a slice of Autumn Harvest Quiche

This quiche filling consists mainly of vegetables, but I did sneak a little bacon in there to optimize the flavor. To me, it’s like the perfect breakfast and I could eat this everyday. I sometimes make one on a Sunday so I have quick breakfast that I can warm up for those chilly weekday mornings.

A whole quiche just out of the oven on a cooling rack

The Best Crust for Quiche

The key to any good pie, or in this case quiche, is a good crust because the whole package has to taste good and the crust is a major flavor component.

If you’ve ever had a quiche with a bad crust, then you know what I’m talking about! While the filling of a good quiche can be quite tasty, if the crust is bad, tasteless, dry or even tough, the whole thing can be a total fail.

I am using my foolproof pastry dough that I used for minced beef and onion pies and steak and ale pie. It’s flaky, buttery and comes out perfect every time. It’s a very versatile pastry too. As I mentioned I use this pastry for my savory pies, but this time it’s not only used for the quiche here, I also use it for many more of my recipes.

A view of the quiche from above

How to Make Easy Pastry in the Food Processor

I make my pie pastry in the food processor. If you don’t have one it can easily be made by hand by rubbing the butter into the flour. Now, I’m not going to tell you what to do in your own kitchen and you could use a ready made pie crust. Since this pastry is soooo easy it really is worth making your own so give it a try!

A Quiche That Travels Well

This is a nice quiche idea for taking a slice or 2 on the go. The day after I made the quiche, I went on an overnight trip and since I knew there would be a fridge in my hotel room, I brought a slice of quiche and a salad and knew that I had a delicious dinner without having to order room service.

If you are looking for other quiche ideas, I have a recipe for a potato and vegetable quiche that is not only stunning, but delicious too!

Yield: 8

Autumn Harvest Quiche

Autumn harvest quiche - Buttery, flaky crust with a mushroom, bacon, butternut squash, leek and sage filling.

Autumn harvest quiche with mushrooms, leeks, butternut squash, bacon and sage. 

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the pastry:

  • 1 ½ cups (225 grams) all purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup for rolling out pastry
  • ½ cup/8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, cubed and kept cold until ready to use
  • Small pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup (59 ml) cold water * see note

For the filling:

  • 3 slices bacon, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 ounce (28 grams) mushrooms, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 leek (white part only) cleaned and cut into small pieces
  • 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
  • ½ cup (65 grams) butternut squash, cut into small cubes and boiled for 5 minutes
  • 4 large eggs
  • ¼ cup (59 ml) whole milk
  • Small pinch nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ cup (25 grams) cheddar cheese grated
  • Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • Dried beans (for baking the crust)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 °F/190 °C.
  2. To make the pastry in a food processor: Add the flour, salt and butter. Pulse until you get the texture of fine breadcrumbs. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in cold water until it forms a ball and immediately stop.
  3. To make the pastry by hand: Add the flour, salt and butter to a large bowl. Using your fingertips (or a pastry cutter) rub the butter and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Drizzle in the water and mix using a fork until the it starts to come together and holds together when pressed in your hand. You may not need all of the water.
  4. Remove the dough and knead a little on a floured board until smooth.
  5. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
  6. For the filling:
  7. To a sauté pan, cook the bacon over medium heat. Drain and set aside. Keep bacon fat in pan.
  8. Return the pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms and leek to the bacon fat. Cook until softened. Stir in the sage, butternut squash and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and set aside.
  9. To a mixing bowl add the eggs and milk and whisk until combined. Add the nutmeg, salt, pepper and whisk until combined.
  10. Add the bacon, leeks, mushrooms and butternut squash to the eggs and mix well. Stir in the cheddar cheese. Set aside.
  11. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll out onto a floured surface, larger than the quiche pan.
  12. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and lift into a 9 inch round tart pan pressing the bottom firmly and the sides allowing the pastry to hang over the sides. Do not stretch dough. *see note
  13. Cover the pastry in parchment paper and fill the center with dried beans or uncooked rice.
  14. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and remove the foil and beans or rice.
  15. Remove the excess crust from over the edges to make it look pretty.
  16. Return the crust back to the oven for 5 more minutes until it start to brown. Remove from the oven.
  17. Allow the crust to cool for a couple of minutes then pour in the egg mixture almost to the top. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
  18. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Notes

* You may not use all of this. Just use enough until the dough comes together.
* Stretching the dough will cause the it shrink when baked

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 277Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 133mgSodium 235mgCarbohydrates 22gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 9g

This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.

© Janette
Cuisine: American / Category: Dinner Ideas