Herb Quiche with Potato Crust
I get food inspiration from many sources. Travel, reading, social media and of course the many food-related shows I enjoy watching. Recently I came across a new program on Magnolia TV/HBO max called La Pitchoune: Cooking in France. As a massive Julia Child fan I was hooked before I even watched any episodes. It’s a show about two couples who run a cooking school out of Julia Child’s former home in the South of France. Six guests arrive each week for a chance to stay in Julia’s home and attend daily cooking classes put on by two talented women. Their point of view is teaching students to cook without exact recipes. The value sourcing high quality, local ingredients. They encourage the students choose the flavors they enjoy and then all together they combine their ideas to create lovely, French-inspired dishes.
It was in Episode 2 that they showed the class how to create a basic quiche. But instead of fussing with a pastry crust, they chose to use thinly sliced potatoes (a very common French vegetable). The great thing about this recipe is that I happened to have all of the ingredients needed to make my own version. This is a very straight forward recipe and quite simple to make. And just like the students in the show, you can and should modify my recipe by selecting your own favorite FRESH herbs, cheeses and spices. The only thing that takes a bit of care is slicing the potatoes (very thinly). Lucky for me I have a food processor – which sliced the potatoes in about 10 seconds!
Do not skimp on the half and half and try to use regular milk or nut based milks…it will not firm up properly. The fat from the half and half creates a luxurious, creamy quiche that you cannot get from using low fat milk products. My final tip would be to make sure you overlap the potato slices when filling the pie plate…the potatoes may shrink a bit in the baking process.
So I hope you’ll make your version of this quiche sometime soon. I paired it with a lovely fresh salad, locally sourced sausage links and a lovely glass of Rose from the Provence Region of France. It made a lovely Fall dinner, but of course could be served any time of day.
Bon Appetit!
Herb Quiche with Potato Crust
Ingredients
- 2 medium/large russet potatoes, peeled
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large eggs, plus 3 egg yolks
- 2 cups half n half
- 1/2 cup freshly chopped herbs (parsley, chives, thyme)
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425
- Slice potatoes (long ways) very thin. Easiest to use a food processor or mandoline.
- Toss potatoes in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
- On a very large sheet tray or 2 smaller ones – spread out slices on the baking sheet.
- Bake potato slices until tender (about 10 minutes depending upon thickness). Avoid browning the slices.
- Once cool enough to handle, begin placing slices in the pie plate, staring with the sides. Make sure the potato slices extend above the edge of the pie plate. Cover the rest of the pie plate with remaining slices…make sure to OVERLAP all slices.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks, half n half, fresh herbs, nutmeg, salt, pepper and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese together until well combined.
- Pour egg mixture into potato slice lined pie plate.
- Top mixture with the remaining shredded cheddar cheese.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350.
- Place quiche in oven and cook for approximately 40 minutes (until center of quiche is just set).
- Remove from oven and let sit for at least 15 to 20 minutes before slicing. Do not rush this step as it will allow the quiche to set up nicely.
- Serve quiche warm or at room temperature.
