Brunch beauty
Simple ingredients and a flourish of asparagus make this quiche special
Last week at the farmers market, I picked up eggs without much of a plan for them aside from breakfast. Then as the weekend approached, I had halfa-dozen eggs, fresh goat cheese and a whole bunch of asparagus. I found the final bag of last year’s green chile in the freezer, and before I knew it, brunchy dreams were starting to form, including thoughts of a flaky, crusted quiche and all kinds of summer fruit. And herein lies just one of the many reasons quiche is such a perfect food for any time of day — when served with a simple green salad or fresh fruit, you can’t imagine wanting anything else. It’s a great way to keep things in the kitchen both simple and delicious.
From a cooking perspective, there are many ways and vessels you can use to cook a quiche. I am going to focus on what I think will be the most accessible method, using a standard 9-inch tart pan (where the bottom separates from the rim), a pie pan or a 9-inch springform pan. This is not a “mile high” type of quiche you might order at your favorite French cafe. And guess what? It’s OK. There is a time when a thick quiche is just divine and a time when you have a halfdozen eggs and the ratio of less egg and more crust tastes like its own version of perfection. However, if you have a quiche pan or a springform pan, you could double the recipe, building the crust higher and filling it with more egg mixture and cooking it longer.
Let’s quickly talk about the crust. Here we are making a shortcrust pastry, which is similar to a flaky pie dough but is fortified with egg yolk, making it more forgiving, easier to work with and sturdier in the pan for holding a considerable amount of filling.
I prefer to leave the asparagus stems whole because they are so beautiful spread out over the top of the egg. By blanching them quickly in boiling water, then cooling them in an ice bath to stop the cooking, they are able to retain their vibrant color when they are cooked the second time in the oven.
I tend to be a bit of a minimalist when it comes to incorporating flavor combinations into the egg mixture, and usually, I choose no more than three flavors to play off of one another. Here it is asparagus, goat cheese and fire-roasted New Mexico green chile. In this version, I seasoned the goat cheese with High Desert Herbs (stokli. com), made by blending marjoram, sage, lavender, rosemary, chile and thyme. It’s a subtle and lovely addition.
The main thing to remember when making any kind of baked egg dish is whatever ingredients you include, you want their water content to be relatively low so they don’t melt into the egg mixture, making it too watery. If you want to use tomatoes, for instance, I would recommend roasting them first in the oven to remove as much water as possible. If you wanted to use mushrooms (one of my favorite quiche ingredients), I would caramelize them until they are golden. And in this version, once we blanch and cool the asparagus, I recommend taking the time to dry the asparagus with a clean kitchen towel to remove as much moisture as possible.
A great way to reduce the amount of time this takes is to roll out the dough, line your quiche pan and freeze the crust up to a few days before. If this flavor combination doesn’t sound exciting or you have an aversion to goat cheese, you can always make it your own by choosing your favorite ingredients of the season and following your taste buds along the way.
ASPARAGUS AND GOAT CHEESE QUICHE
Makes: 6-8 servings; total time: 2 hours
For the crust:
1¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
½ teaspoon kosher or medium grain sea salt
½ cup unsalted butter, diced and cold
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed Piece of parchment paper
2 cups pie weights or dried beans
For the filling:
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise ½ cup fresh goat cheese
2 teaspoons High Desert Herbs (or a pinch of any combination of marjoram, sage, lavender, rosemary, chile, thyme)
5 large eggs
½ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon kosher or medium grain sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 fire-roasted New Mexico green chiles, peeled, seeded and diced
Preparation: First let’s make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cold butter, and using your fingers, work it into the flour until the flour mixture resembles smallish peas. Add the egg yolk and ice water, and gently work this together until it forms into a ball, adding a tiny bit more water if needed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and gently flatten into a 1-inch-thick disc. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
While the dough is resting, bring a large pot of water seasoned generously with salt to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, prepare a large bowl with ice water close to the stove. You can use the remaining time to gather your other ingredients (mise en place). Mix together the goat cheese and dry herbs and reserve. When the water is rapidly boiling, add the asparagus and cook until it is just barely tender, around 1 minute. Quickly pull the asparagus out of the water with tongs or a spider, and plunge the bright green stems into the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once they are cool, transfer the asparagus to a tray lined with a clean kitchen towel and gently pat them dry.
Once the dough has rested, roll it out on a dry, clean, lightly floured surface until it is around ⅛-inch thick and at least 1-inch wider than your quiche pan. I like to keep my pan close and use it as a guide while I’m rolling. Transfer the dough to the pan, pressing the dough into the sides if you’re using a tart pan or springform pan, and crimping the rim with your fingers or a fork if you’re using a pie pan. With a fork, poke holes in the bottom all around and transfer the pan to the freezer for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a round piece of parchment paper inside the crust and pour in the pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust (this is blind baking) for 20 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes.
Now reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt and pepper, and pour this into the cooled crust. Evenly sprinkle in the goat cheese and fire-roasted chiles, and arrange the asparagus pieces on top in any arrangement that looks pretty to you. Transfer the quiche to the oven and bake for around 35-45 minutes, until the sides are set but the center is still just a bit wobbly. You can insert a clean knife into the center to see if it comes out clean. Let the quiche cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Marianne Sundquist is a chef and writer who in 2020 co-founded Stokli, an online general store. Find her on Instagram @chefmariannesundquist and email her at marianne@stokli.com.