Recipe for zucchini, bacon and feta quiche
When we lived in Boston, friends with plots in the local community garden would deposit zucchini on our front stoop, and as we didn't have our own garden, my husband Ted and I relished the unexpected gift of other people's bounty. Little did we realize we were doing them a favor by taking those excess zucchini. Here in rural Rhode Island, it's common for folks to come to visit in late summer brandishing zucchini large and small, their eyes begging us to take those all-too-abundant vegetables off their hands. I love the small zucchini, tender enough to eat raw, or toss on the grill, or dice into this zucchini, bacon and feta quiche. (Save the canoe-size specimens for flotation devices. Or for soup.) Quiche tastes best at room temperature, which makes this recipe great for make-ahead entertaining.
Zucchini, bacon and feta quiche
From the pantry, you'll need: pie crust, bacon, olive oil, onion, dried thyme leaf, eggs, shredded cheese, feta cheese, ground nutmeg, fresh black pepper.
Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
1 9-inch refrigerated pie crust, or homemade crust
2 slices of bacon, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 large bell pepper (any color -- I use orange), diced
2 small zucchini, diced
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp dried thyme
Kosher salt and black pepper
5 large eggs
1/2 cup lowfat or nonfat milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
7 oz shredded cheese (I use store-bought non-fat mozzarella)
1/4 cup crumbled fat-free feta cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Fit the crust into a 9-inch pie plate, and set aside.
In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until it is soft and starting to brown, but not crisp.
Add the olive oil, onion and bell pepper, and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes to soften the vegetables. Stir in the zucchini and thyme, and cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini is softened and just starting to brown, 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes.
In a large bowl or 8-quart measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, nutmeg and black pepper. Add the cheeses, and stir to combine.
When the vegetable mixture has cooled slightly, stir it into the eggs.
Immediately pour the egg mixture into the prepared crust, and carefully transfer it to the oven.
Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the eggs to set completely before you serve, or make ahead and let sit for an hour at room temperature, or up to one day in the refrigerator.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Kale and feta quiche
Lobster, corn and basil quiche
Red pepper, asparagus and spinach quiche
Leek and mushroom quiche
One-bite vegetable quiche
Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Crustless quiche with ham, asparagus and gruyere, from Pinch My Salt
Crab, scallion and tomato quiche, from Cooking On the Side
Swiss chard and mushroom squares, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Cheesy broccoli bacon quiche, from Savory Simple
Kale and smoked bacon quiche, from Taste Buddies
Disclosure: The Perfect Pantry earns a few pennies on purchases made through the Amazon.com links in this post. Thank you for supporting this site when you start your shopping here.
I love quiche, and this one looks really delicious. I like to sprinkle the cheese on top after baking the quiche for around 20 minutes, so the cheese would remain on top. I like the cheese turning brown on top. :)
Lydia,
Last year my garden grew Home Defense size zucchini every time my back was turned. I'd see teeny zucchini, think I'd give them another day or 3 to get a bit bigger, and when I turned around they were baseball-bat sized. So I shredded them and stuffed them in everything I could.
If the garden chooses to grow zucchini again this year (I've not planted any, but you never know with my garden) I'd love to make this quiche--my kids would definitely eat zucchini if it was nestled with bacon and feta!
Thanks!
Yung, that's also a wonderful way to make quiche. This one has all the cheese inside.
Kirsten, zucchini does seem to have a mind of its own, doesn't it? Shredding is the best thing to do with the large ones, or hollowing them out and using the shells with some kind of stuffing. Or as canoes.
My problem is the same as Kirsten's above except with cucumbers! just when I thought I had picked enough to keep the plants under control I would find a "small baseball bat" cuke!! I never have the heart to thin the plants out after sowing a bunch of seeds! so I have an overrun each year!
This quiche is a great idea!
Anything with bacon and zucchini is a winner.
Carol, I adore cucumbers, so I'll always take the overflow!
Kristi, so true.
In the days of my Organic Gardening Magazine subscription (many years ago), there was correspondence on the problem of zucchini monsters. One creative solution was to liquify them and use as a milk substitute. I doubt that I tried it -- who has that much freezer space? but it sounded like a good idea if you could use it up as they came. Another zucchini shrinker is simply grate and saute with herbs, letting the liquid boil off, then adding sour cream/greek yogurt.
Susan, I honestly can't imagine using liquified zucchini as a milk substitute! I do wonder about grating and sauteeing, and then freezing for future use in soups and stews?