Butternut Squash And Bacon Quiche Recipe

We'll be honest with you — not all recipes are quick and easy 30-minute meals. This deep-dish quiche recipe is quite the opposite but well worth the time. After all, quiche is not your average bacon-and-eggs breakfast. At its simplest, quiche is an egg-based pie made with milk and cheese. It's soft and custard-like but sturdy enough to be cut into slices for an elegant presentation. In this recipe written with developer Michelle McGlinn, the egg, milk, and cream are joined by fall-forward flavors like butternut squash, bacon, and crispy sage, then topped with rounds of onion that caramelize sweetly into three types of melty cheese. To make this tall, deep-dish style quiche, you'll need a springform pan, usually used for making cheesecakes. A simple, buttery crust is pressed into the pan and pre-baked (also called blind baking) until golden, then filled with Fontina, Gruyère, Parmesan, the squash and bacon, and a smooth egg filling. This isn't really the recipe you pull out for busy Monday mornings, but it does make a seriously stunning surprise for special occasions. And, it's not just a pretty meal, either: It may also be the best quiche you've ever tasted.

Though the recipe is complicated, you don't need many ingredients, and many will already be in your pantry. To make the crust, grab all-purpose flour, butter, salt, and water. We recommend making the crust yourself for the best results, but a frozen deep-dish pie shell will work in a pinch. From there, you'll also need olive oil, a small butternut squash, bacon, eggs, heavy cream, milk, Parmesan cheese, Fontina cheese, Gruyère cheese, a small yellow onion, and some fresh sage. If butternut squash is out of season and no longer in stores, swap it out for sweet potato.

Start making the crust: Add the flour and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine.

Add the butter and pulse until butter is broken down into pea-sized pieces.

Add the water and pulse until the dough begins to come together.

Remove from the processor and knead using your hands. Form a disc with the dough, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 10 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Bring the dough to room temperature. Roll it out flat to ⅛-inch thickness.

Press the dough into a 9-inch springform pan, removing the excess around the edges.

Fill the pan with beans or pie weights.

Place in the oven and bake until golden, about 1 hour.

In the meantime, spread the butternut squash cubes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, then season with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Add to the oven and roast for 30–40 minutes, until tender.

Add the bacon pieces to a skillet over medium heat.

Cook until deeply browned and crispy, about 5 minutes.

Whisk the eggs vigorously in a large bowl until smooth.

Combine the eggs, cream, milk, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper. Whisk or blend until completely smooth.

Once the crust is golden, remove the beans or pie weights and place the springform pan on a baking sheet.

Add ¼ cup of each cheese to the bottom of the quiche.

Add the butternut squash and bacon to the shell, reserving about 2 tablespoons of each.

Pour the egg mixture into the quiche shell.

Top with the remaining ¼ cup of each cheese.

On top of the cheese layer, carefully add the sliced onion, sage, and remaining squash and bacon.

Adjust the oven to 350 F.

Carefully return the pan to the oven and bake for 80–90 minutes, or until the middle registers 160 F and the egg is just barely jiggly.

Let cool for 10–15 minutes before slicing.

So many recipes are best when eaten fresh and right out of the oven, but quiche is actually the opposite. Because eggs, cream, and milk not only continue to cook in residual heat but also set and firm up while cooling, quiche is best eaten at least 10 minutes after baking, if not the next day.

You can tackle this recipe in many parts. The dough can be made and chilled in a plastic-wrapped disc for up to 5 days; just remember to remove the dough from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before using. The baked shell can then be stored for another 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months, saving you over an hour of cook time when you're ready to make your quiche. The assembled quiche can then be baked, cooled, and stored in the refrigerator for 3–5 days, and it can even be frozen for up to 3 months.

Does this mean you can make Mother's Day brunch in February? Technically yes, but for the best results, we recommend making the quiche — in parts or all at once — 2 or 3 days ahead of brunch, then warming in the oven right before serving. If you're just making quiche for fun and are planning to eat it daily by the slice (we all like a fancy Tuesday morning), slices can be microwaved until warm.

If you're serving this quiche as a traditional breakfast meal, serve it alongside Canadian bacon and yogurt parfait, or use the extra bacon fat from this recipe to crisp up some bacon fat hash browns. Keep the sides light or complementary to the quiche, which will be plenty filling on its own.

Quiche is not always served for breakfast and can actually make an excellent dinner party food, as well. For a dinnertime quiche, serve the tall slices with roasted asparagus, springy endive salad, and either stewed tomatoes or tomato tartines. Dinnertime quiche pairings should be vegetable heavy to complement the rich egg filling and should emphasize the season's best choosings. If you're making this in the colder months, consider kale salads or roasted carrots. And, whether you're serving this for a sunny morning brunch or an early summer soiree, you can't go wrong serving with a sweet and sparkling mimosa.