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Eating with the seasons, a task seemingly far simpler during the warmer months, but oh, it can be simple – and delicious – in the winter months as well.
With the use of hearty herbs such as rosemary and sage and many more, these herbs are readily available in my garden, so finding recipes that heighten their profile with the use of such herbs is the goal.
Bring on the soups and tarts and roasted vegetables because it is winter and there is no need to lack or eat unhealthily just because most of our gardens are hibernating.
Yesterday, as I was temporarily displaced from my office and the wifi as well turned off as built-in bookshelves were being installed precisely where my internet connection enters the home, I shifted my attention to other tasks I needed to tend to.
The day began by the fireplace with the pups (see the image below), and I did my best to capture an internet signal from my phone’s hotspot, eventually just giving up the struggle and working on this recipe I share with you today and cleaning parts of the house that I have put off but needed a bit of attention. A win-win for the house and my appetite. ☺️
As I knew I would need to be at the house during the day, I scheduled my regular yoga class for later in the evening, and by choosing to make this quiche for dinner, I vowed to myself that only if I made it to yoga class would I be able to enjoy it for dinner. Granted, I would have never let it go to waste, but as I made the quiche during the afternoon and it sat tantalizingly on the kitchen island giving the house a delicious savory aroma upon coming out of the oven, it was hard not to enjoy the meal at that moment and instead patiently wait, and go to yoga class!
But go to yoga class I did, and upon returning home, seeing the tart already made and waiting to be enjoyed, pairing it with a freshly tossed green salad, after a nice shower, I snuggled in and enjoyed a couple of slices, tickled I made it and now I want to share with you because it is delicious!
Key details:
- What makes this dish a bit heartier and more of a savory dish is the combining of wheat flour with the typically used white flour. I loved the flavor combination.
- Be generous with the rosemary. I increased the recipe to 2 tablespoons instead of 1 and may even increase it more next time.
- If you don’t have regular onions, shallots would be a delicious substitution for a slightly sweeter, more gentle touch.
- Don’t worry about making the tart pastry perfect. Patch as necessary. It will still look great and still, most importantly, taste delicious.
I adapted this recipe from one of my most trusted and go-to cookbooks for seasonal and specially cooking with herbs cookbooks. If you are looking to up your herb game in the kitchen and in the garden, I highly recommend picking up this cookbook.
~From British gardener and Herb expert Judith Hann, Herbs: Delicious Recipes and Growing Tips to transform Your Food~
As I shared yesterday in January’s Gardening post, even though we cannot be outside as much as we would like, there are delicious and simple ways to bring the winter deliciousness from the garden into our dining.
Now to the recipe! I do hope you enjoy.
Rosemary, Courgette & Onion Quiche
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 cup (125 g) fine pastry flour (Bob's Red Mill), or all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (100 g) whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt/fleur de sel
- 1/2 cup (110 g) unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 Tbsp water
Filling
- 2 Tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter
- 1 small sweet onion or yellow, finely julienned chopped into (half moon ribbons)
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 yellow courgette/zucchini, finely sliced into circles save about 1/4 of the zucchini for additions to the fresh salad you will pair with your quiche.
- 1 green courgette/zucchini, finely sliced into circles save about 1/4 of the zucchini for additions to the fresh salad you will pair with your quiche.
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 4 Tbsp finely grated Parmigiana Reggiano
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (about 1-2 sprigs)
- 1-2 tsp fleur de sel
- freshly ground black pepper
- mixed salad greens (arugula and spinach are my go-to) for the pairing side salad
Instructions
Making the Pastry
- Make the pastry first so it can chill while you make the filling. Using a food processor, pulse together the flours, salt and butter. Then in a small bowl, mix together the egg and water. When combined, gradually add the liquid mixture to the dough while pulsing. Add just as much as you need to bring the dough together (you may need less than what the total amount of liquid + egg is, so watch it as you pour gradually).
- Remove the dough from the food processor, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can make the dough the day ahead.
When you are ready to assemble the tart
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C).
- Upon removing the dough from the refrigerator, roll out onto a floured surface into a circle or square to fit your tart pan (choose one with a removable bottom). Then place in your tart pan, gently nestling the dough into the corners, patching as necessary with extra dough. Finish the top of the tart dough by rolling your rolling pin over the top of the pan for a neat finish.
- On a 1/2 baking sheet, lined with parchment, place the tart pan with the dough. Place parchment into the tart, on top of the dough, then place beans or pie weights on top to help the dough hold its shape. Bake for 10 minutes (NOT until golden brown, as that will happen when you bake the pastry with the filling). Upon removing the tart pastry from the oven, remove the weights and parchment and let rest until you are ready to add the filling.
Making the Filling
- In a medium to large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter, and then add the onion. Season well (about 1/2 -1 tsp) with salt. Cook down for about 10 minutes. Then add the chopped garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes more. Then add the courgettes and cook for about 5-8 minutes until all of the courgettes have been 'kissed' by the skillet.
- While the vegetables are cooking on the skillet, in a medium mixing bowl combine the eggs and cream with a whisk. Then add the cheese, followed by seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Assembling into the pastry crust: First add the vegetables to the pastry, making sure evenly distributed. Then pour the wet mixture over the vegetables. Finally sprinkle the finely chopped rosemary over the top of all of it.
- Bake for 30 minutes until nicely golden brown.
Serving
- Make a vinaigrette of your choice (my favorite is 3-1 olive oil and balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp of Dijon mustard and 2-3 turns of freshly ground pepper). Toss the greens and extra raw courgettes with the vinaigrette and pair with each slice of the quiche. Oh! And don't forget a glass of white wine. Enjoy!
great recipe – I think the egg/water combo is missing from the ingredient list for the pastry though.
Sarah,
Thank you for catching this! All is updated now! I do hope you enjoy. 🙂
Merci beaucoup Shannon. This post is making me hungry! I will be sure to try this recipe soon and I have just bought Judith’s herb book 🙂
Thank you for sharing the recipe and book.
Andrea,
Happy to share and I do think you will enjoy the book. Quite the resource! The quiche in my house is now gone two days later. So good! Hard to resist one more small slice. 🙂
Looks delicious! I am totally partial to a good quiche, so I noted this recipe down already. Not a fan of rosemary, as I find the flavour too overpowering (except on lamb dishes), I will try a mix savoury and fennel.
Chez moi a quiche never lasts two days… unless is frozen. 😉
Thanks for the recipe, Shannon! 🙂
This reminded me of a recipe I used regularly, with a bit of this and that, depending on what I have on hand. I readily admit that my experience with Rosemary is limited. I do need to explore and experiment a bit more. My garden often produced ample courgette. Market day is tomorrow, now I have a plan for Friday dinner, Thank You. I am so glad the pups saved a bit of space for you to cuddle up as well!
Lucy, your approach to quiche-making sounds very similar to mine, which is why I love to make (and eat!) them. A quiche is so very forgiving. One can use up the last bit of spinach, an odd end of a red onion, the nub of parmesan, the end of the Emmental, slivers of ham, add some fresh thyme and voila! There it is, a delicious concoction that belies the fact that you decided at last minute you did not really want the thing you had planned for at the beginning of the week, but one (and one’s husband) must be fed supper and next-day’s lunch. And it has a flaky, buttery pastry. The perfect food, really. And that concludes my Ode to The Quiche?.
“Ode to The Quiche!” Love it!
I do hope you enjoy! ☺️
Shannon, I love that when you could not work (and create) otherwise, you moved to the kitchen and dove into your creativity and work there.
And I can smell it from here, so yum, I must admit never having tried courgettes (zucchini and yellow squash) as I thought them too wet for a quiche. Absolutely I will be giving them a go, merci!?
Shannon, I love that when you could not work (and create) otherwise, you moved to the kitchen and dove into your creativity and work there.
And I can smell it from here, so yum, I must admit never having tried courgettes (zucchini and yellow squash) as I thought them too wet for a quiche. Absolutely I will be giving them a go, merci!?
Dang. Apologies for the double post. xx
Here I am again. My Herb book arrived the other day and I have been truly excited to experiment. Thank you for bringing this one to us, I have a Cornish Hen ready for a lemon thyme bake tomorrow. Pure magic, my lemon thyme, in a protected planter on my back porch, is still hardy and I will use it on this recipe. I very much appreciate the meatless selections. If I could speak French I would come up with some brilliant phrases to use, instead again I will say thank you!
So tickled it arrived! Your Cornish Hen recipe sounds delicious with lemon thyme. Thank you for circling back and sharing. ☺️
To Everyone,
I made this recipe on Sunday for a light supper and it was simple to make (even the crust), as well as delicious. You should give it a go.
~Michelle
Thank you very much for circling back around and sharing this good news! 🙂 Tickled to hear it went so well. xo
Back to report that this quiche was made chez moi yesterday for dinner with a side salad, as suggested. For today’s lunch, it was paired with a bowl of warm soup (very simple green soup). It was fantastic both ways! Yummy, yummy. No leftovers. 😉
Wiesserose~
Soup would be a fabulous idea as well!
~Michelle
Lovely to hear! Thank you for sharing Isabel. 🙂