Fall’s officially here, and this weather has us craving some seasonal produce. Luckily, chef-owner Chris McLaurin of Lutra Cafe and Bakery in Durham has got us covered with his roasted pumpkin and caramelized onion quiche for an autumnal, crowd-pleasing breakfast. Pro tip: Find an NC-grown pumpkin, sweet potato, or butternut squash at a local farmers market.
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Roasted Pumpkin and Caramelized Onion Quiche
Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Salt and pepper
- ¾ pound pie pumpkin (You can substitute sweet potato or butternut squash)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 dough round*
- 1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese
- 4 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme
Directions:
Sauté sliced onion in butter over medium low heat until caramelized, approx. 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow caramelized onions to cool.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel the pumpkin and cut into 1 inch cubes. Toss with olive oil and roast until tender and lightly browned — around 15 to 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Allow roasted pumpkin to cool.
Lower oven to 325 degrees to parbake your quiche crust.
Line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper. If you have a regular cake pan with a solid bottom, line the bottom with a parchment round and make a parchment “stirrup” by folding a rectangle of parchment in half and allowing the ends to hand over the sides of the pan. This will help you lift out the finished quiche.
Roll the dough out to an ⅛-inch thick circle. Place the dough into the prepared pan, making sure it fits snugly in the corners. Trim the excess dough so about ½-inch of dough remains above the rim of the pan.
Crumple up a piece of parchment paper, uncrumple, and place on top of the dough. Fill with pie weights, dry rice, or dried beans. Bake at 325 degrees for around 15 minutes until the rim is medium brown and the bottom of the dough is just starting to get some color. Remove the pie weights from the parbaked crust.
Lower oven to 300 degrees. Mix together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and thyme in a bowl. To the crust, add the caramelized onion, roasted pumpkin and cheese and top with the egg mixture. Fill to ¼-inch below the top of the crust. Depending on exactly how much filling you added, you may have a bit of egg mixture left over.
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, turning halfway through. The quiche is cooked once the egg is set and doesn’t wobble when moved. Allow the quiche to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before removing from the pan and serving.
*Quiche crust
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- ½ cup ice water
Directions:
Mix together the flour, sugar and salt.
Dice butter into ½ inch cubes and allow to soften slightly; you want the butter to be soft enough to easily flatten but still cool. (If it gets too warm, just place the butter back in your fridge for a few minutes.)
Toss the butter cubes into the flour mixture. Press each butter cube into a flat disk between the palms of your hands allowing the flour to keep anything from sticking. Once all of the butter is flattened, break up any larger pieces until they are around the size of quarters.
Add just shy of a half cup of ice cold water (making sure no ice gets into the dough). Using your fingers, lightly incorporate into the dough — at this stage, you’re not kneading. After you’ve incorporated the water, if you still see a good amount of dry flour at the bottom of your bowl, add the remaining water.
Once the dough is evenly hydrated, knead a few times to bring everything together.
Shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic, and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
Pro tip: The dough can also be made in a food processor by pulsing the butter and flour mixture together until you have pea sized chunks of butter and then incorporating the water in a few pulses. Knead the dough together to finish before forming into a disk, wrapping in plastic and chilling.
