Celebrate Quiche with Bacon and Arugula, Sweet Potato Mushroom
If you are a fan of eggs, pastry crust or bacon. Or more so all three in a gloriously savory medley, then today is a day in which you should celebrate! May 20th is National Quiche Lorraine Day.
For those uninitiated a quiche is considered a French dish, comprised of a pastry crust filled with eggs and cream (and/or milk), dotted with a variety of vegetables, meat or seafood. For those who know all-too-well quiche is savory, creamy and delicious!
Quiche Lorraine, then, is a variant of Quiche (named after the Lorraine region of France) which originally contained lardons* inside the typical open pie pastry with eggs and cream. Modern versions of this dish generally include cheese (which the original did not) and bacon replacing the lardon.
*(A lardon is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat.)
In celebration of this day, we offer up two modern variations on the classic Quiche Lorriane. We hope you enjoy!
Bacon and Arugula Quiche
Created by Lynne Daley, featured on foodista.com (CC BY 3.0)
Ingredients:
6 bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped shallots
8 ounces baby arugula or baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup shredded Gruyere, Emmental or Swiss cheese
A 9-inch pre-baked pastry crust
Preparation:
1 – Preheat oven to 400° F. Thaw purchased crust for 10 minutes. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden. After pre-baking purchased crust, lower oven temperature to 375°F.
2 – In a large skillet on medium heat,cook bacon pieces until crispy. Drain on paper towels, reserving 2 tablespoons bacon drippings. Add chopped shallots and saute until tender. Add chopped arugula, saute until just wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, add balsamic vinegar and toss to combine.
3 – In prepared pastry, layer arugula mixture, then crispy bacon pieces. In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together heavy cream, eggs and salt and pepper. Stir in Gruyere cheese. Pour this mixture over the arugula bacon layers. Bake until puffed and golden, about 35 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Sweet, Sweet, Sweet Potato Quiche With Bacon and Mushrooms
Created by Kristi Rimkus, featured on foodista.com (CC BY 3.0)
Ingredients:
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons flour
2 pieces bacon
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup mushroom, sliced
2 cups kale, chopped
4 large eggs
4 large egg white
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch pepper
1 pinch nutmeg, small pinch
1/2 cup low fat cheddar cheese, shredded
Preparation:
1 – Preheat oven to 450.
2 – Toss sweet potato with flour. Spray a pie dish with cooking spray and layer sweet potatoes. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until potato is just barely tender.
3 – In a large non-stick skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Approximately 5 minutes.
4 – Drain on bacon on paper towel.
5 – Swipe pan with paper towel to remove most of the bacon drippings and then add onion. Cook onion 5 minutes until softened, then add mushrooms. Cook another 5 minutes until tender. Add kale, crumbled bacon and garlic and cook another minute or two to wilt kale.
6 – Whip eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg until frothy.
7 – Top sweet potato crust with onion mixture. Pour egg over the top and spread cheese on top of the egg.
8 – Reduce oven heat to 400 and bake 20 minutes until egg is set.
