Potato Crust Quiche

I've had this recipe for quite a while but never had the time to make it before now. I found it on King Arthur Flour . I do have to say that it took some time but was worth the effort. For those of you who know me you will see that of course I changed a few ingredients and as usual I will show you what the recipe called for and what I did.

Ingredients:

Potato Crust

• 1/2 cup grated onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dry thyme
• 1/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled

Filling

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups (1 large) leek, sliced, washed, and drained
• 4 cups sliced mushrooms
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated fontina or Swiss cheese
• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

• Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Set up a strainer over a bowl.

1. Grate the onions into the strainer, and drain for 10 minutes, pressing out the extra liquid.

2.When the onions are drained, transfer them to a bowl and combine them with the salt, thyme and flour.

3. Grate the potatoes into the strainer. Press out any extra liquid, then combine with the onion mixture, mixing to combine.

4. Pat the mixture into pie pan and up the sides. Bake for 25 minutes to let the steam escape.

5. After 25 minutes, brush the potatoes with oil, then bake for 15 minutes more, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature to 350°F.

6. While the crust is baking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook until the leeks are wilted, and the mushrooms give up their liquid and it cooks away (you don't want the vegetables to be juicy). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Transfer the vegetables to the baked crust, and sprinkle the cheese evenly on top.

8. Whisk the eggs, milk and Worcestershire together, and pour slowly over the vegetables. Return the quiche to the oven and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the center is set. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

Preheat your oven to 450*. I used a pasta strainer to strain the shredded onion because the holes were smaller, in retrospect I would have squeezed out the excess water in a kitchen towel. This method leaves too much water in my opinion.

The same goes for the potatoes. Another point I will make, I don't own a food scale so when 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes are called for that causes me to have to guess and I did!

The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of flour; if your draining your onions and potatoes their way then use a little more. Mix the thyme, salt and flour with the onion then add the potatoes to this mixture.

Now the recipe calls for you to press the onion/potato mixture into your pie plate, on the bottom and up the sides. This is a large deep dish plate I used so I pressed it well up the sides.

Place the crust in the oven and bake for 25 minutes so the excess water is steamed away. Another note, I sprayed my pie plate as there was nothing that in my opinion would keep it from sticking. As you can see the edges get very dark quickly so keep an eye out.

After 25 minutes remove the crust and brush it all with the oil and bake again for 15 minutes. As you will note the crust shrinks some.

While the crust is baking, sauté' the mushrooms and leaks until they are fairly caramelized and all the liquid is gone.

When the crust is done, turn your oven down to 350* and add your veggies and the cheese. The recipe calls for fontina or swiss, I only had sharp cheddar on hand so that's what I used. Must stick to the budget!

Whisk up your eggs, Worcestershire sauce, milk, and add slowly. Again as you can see due to crust shrinkage some spilled over but that's okay.

Bake at 350* for 25 to 30 minutes, until done. I must admit I was a little worried about the dark color of the crust but it was fine.

This was really delicious and worth the wait. I served this with a tossed salad and it made a great meal. The good news is that I have some left over for breakfast! 

Jill

Eliminating meat from your diet once a week is easy. Please check back on Monday's for our fabulous meatless recipes!