Crustless Quiche with Bacon, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese

My SO and I are happily subscribed to Fine Cooking magazine, from which we've gotten many of our recent favorite recipes. A few weeks ago we made a savory crustless quiche from the current issue (Oct/Nov 2004) that had bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese in a light egg batter. Since it was exceptionally delicious, I thought I'd share our version of the recipe here as my first end-of-the-week recipe blogging post:

Batter:

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1%)
• 3 jumbo eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• Sprinkle cayenne
• Butter for the pan (optional?)

Filling:

• ~1/3 pound bacon (I used thick sliced), cut into 1/4" strips
  
• 4 ounces shallots, chopped (~3/4 cup)
  
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon vinegar (they called for balsamic/sherry vinegar, I used red-wine vinegar)
  
• 1/3 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
  
• ~1/3 pound Polder Blanc Gouda (a goat cheese), chopped into slivers
  
• ~3 ounces chevre (another goat cheese)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used 2 tablespoons reconstituted dried)

To make the filling:
1) Cook the bacon over medium-high heat until it starts to release its fat, then add the shallots. Cook the bacon and shallots until they begin to brown (a total of ~8-10 minutes for the bacon).
2) Add the sugar and cook until the bacon and shallots are well browned (~4 minutes more).
3) Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and sun-dried tomatoes. Let cool while you make the rest.

To make the batter:
1) Whisk ~1/2 cup of the milk (pouring slowly) into the cornstarch.
2) Add the eggs and mix until smooth.
3) Slowly add the rest of the milk, cream, salt, and cayenne.
The batter can be refrigerated for a day, or used immediately.

To assemble the dish:
1) Arrange the filling on the bottom of a suitable pan. The recipe suggests a 7x11" or 8x11" Pyrex dish, we used a 9x13" Pyrex casserole dish without issue. The recipe suggests greasing the pan first, but there's enough bacon fat in the recipe that this is probably not a requirement.
2) Sprinkle the two types of cheese and parsley over the filling.
3) Whisk the batter again and then pour it over the filling.
4) Put the dish into a preheated 425F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until softly set and the top is browned. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving.

There are two critical things to do when making this dish:
1) Do NOT think about the nutritional content of the recipe.
2) Plan to exercise after eating this, primarily to counter your feelings of guilt after failing to follow #1.

The article includes a few different suggestions for fillings, and encourages people to try out their own variations. Enjoy!

Price, R. 2004. "Tonight, Try a Crustless Quiche." Fine Cooking #67 pp. 50-53.

Categories:

• cooking
• recipe
• quiche