My daughter is a big fan of eggs, so when I told her we were having quiche for dinner and she gave me a serious, disapproving look and shook her head no, I knew she still wasn’t clear on exactly what a quiche is made of. “Egg Pizza!” I exclaimed, and immediately encountered an excited face with big eyes and some of my favorite words to hear: “Ella help.” She always says “help” with such anticipation and hopeful uncertainty, really drawing out the word as she enunciates every letter and places her face, eyebrows raised, squarely in front of yours where she can lock eyes with you so there’s no mistaking how committed she is to her request. Then she runs looking for a big chair to pull up to the counter, and I make sure to hide any extra eggs I don’t want her cracking. Destruction – creation – destruction – creation…this task was designed for a toddler.
Pumpkin Kale Quiche
Note: I use a large quiche pan for this dish (not a standard pie pan). If you don’t have one, or a suitably sized dish (who says quiche has to be round?) you’ll want to use 2 pie pans and make 50% more crust.
For Crust:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup white whole wheat flour
½ t. salt
4 T. coconut oil
6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
¼ cup iced water
Combine flours and salt in medium bowl. Cut in coconut oil and butter until pieces are no larger than pea sized. Add water and mix very gently, kneading only a couple times to form a ball. Flatten slightly into a disc, place on plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while assembling other ingredients.
For Quiche:
5 cups roughly chopped kale
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
10 eggs
½ cup half and half
½ t. sage
1/8 t. black pepper
½ t. salt, divided
In large sauté pan, combine kale with 2-3 T. water, cover and cook over medium heat until kale has steamed (3-5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add ¼ t. salt to kale, place in bowl; shred cheese into same bowl. In large measuring glass or 1 qt. bowl combine pumpkin puree, eggs, half and half, sage, pepper and remaining ¼ t. salt. Cover and keep egg mixture cold while crust prebakes.
Preheat oven to 350°. Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to cover quiche pan and gently press into pan. Poke the bottom of your crust several times with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes.
Place kale onto prebaked crust, top with cheese, then cover with egg mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until egg mixture is set.
Raised from Scratch 