Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Caramelized Onion Quiche with Fresh Mozarella and Zucchini Flowers

Eggs, onion, cheese and some leftover zucchini flowers make for a cute little quiche. I was inpired by all the beautiful quiches I found online that were topped with concentric patterns of food - asparagus, ramps or red bell strips, making neat patterns.

First things first. The crust. Do what you wish here....I made mine from scratch. Nothing wrong with frozen pre-made crust. In fact, if I had some handy it would have been just fine and cut my prep by at least 15 minutes.

Pie/Quiche Pastry Crust
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4-5T. ice cold water

Cut the butter into the flour and salt. Add the water, until a formable ball of dough forms. Roll it out and put in a pie pan. Cover the crust with parchment paper and top with dry beans or rice to weigh it down so it won't puff up. Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 oven.

Second, saute the onion slices in a little olive oil until caramelized. This takes a good 15 minutes. I usually cheat and add a teaspoon of sugar to help the browning along. Then get all your other ingredients ready to go.....slice your mozarella, grate the parmesan, cut up some basil and brush off those zucchini flowers.



Filling
1 onion, sliced and caramelized
4 oz fresh mozarella
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 T. chopped basil
1/4 cup grated parmesan
salt/pepper/nutmeg
6 zucchini flowers, halved vertically

In a separate bowl, mix 4 eggs with 1 cup milk. Add parmesan, basil, salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Spread the onions on the crust, then the mozarella. (mushrooms would also be delish) Pour egg mixture over the top, reserving a couple tablespoons. Lay flowers in a pattern on top and push them down a little so they get wet with the egg. Cover with the last couple tablespoons of egg. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until done.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks delicious and I am thinking it would be perfect for a lunch I am attending. How do you think this would be at room temperature? I would probably bake it right before i left the house and it'd be consumed 45min-1hour later. Do you think it'd still be good?

Thanks!

Arika

Deborah said...

What a beautiful quiche!

Lucy..♥ said...

I love it! It's just beautiful and the flavors must be amazing. Just love those z's flowers!

Deanna S. said...

Arika - Absolutely, I think room temperature is best actually. Good luck, hope you like it!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

That quiche looks absolutely gorgeous. I would like a big slice please!