Winter recipe: Rapini Quiche with Three-Root Crust

[sonia]

I thought I was going to have to wait until next (northern) winter to post this, and then there was this handy prompt... The root "crust" gets wonderfully sweet with baking, and the egg makes it filling. I make this dairy-free and nightshade-free. There are dairy-full options.

I got this recipe from the kind folks at the Persephone Farm booth at the farmer's market.

Crust
1/2 cup each grated carrot, rutabaga, and parsnip.
3 Tb rice flour
3 Tb melted butter or olive oil
1/8 tsp each salt and pepper
Optional 1/3 lb. Swiss or cheddar cheese

Filling
1 Tb sunflower oil (or olive oil as needed)
1/2 lb leeks, onions, or shallots, chopped small
1/4 tsp each dried tarragon (or basil) and thyme
1/3 lb chopped rapini (about one bundle), or kale, collards, braising mix, or sprouting broccoli
Salt
4 eggs, beaten well
1/2 cup water or 1 cup milk
Optional paprika

Time
About a half hour of prep time, and an hour of baking time.

Tools
Food processor, or square hand grater and elbow grease
9" pie plate or similar

Methods
Oven at 375 F

Crust
Peel and grate the roots, either in a food processor or by hand.
Mix in rice flour, and salt and pepper.
Mix in melted butter or olive oil.
Grease pie plate with more butter or olive oil.
Pat a thin layer of roots mixture into the bottom and sides of greased pie plate.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until very light brown.
If adding grated cheese, sprinkle evenly on the hot crust.

Filling
Heat oil in a heavy skillet and saute leeks, onions, or shallots until softened.
Ad herbs and salt and saute a moment more.
Add chopped rapini or other greens and cook briefly to soften and reduce a bit.
Spread the vegetable mixture on top of the cheese on the crust.
If you are making a cheeseless quiche add a bit of salt to your filling (1/4 to 1/8 tsp).
Add water or milk to eggs and pour over vegetables.
Sprinkle paprika over the top of the quiche if desired.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until egg is set and cooked.

Serving
Let it cool a bit before serving. I cut into it with a wooden spatula, and not all the "crust" hangs together, but it is still delicious.

Storage
In a container in the fridge.

Variations
I don't digest onions well, so I use shiitake mushrooms instead. Still tasty!
I tend to double the herbs.
I also use extra grated roots for the crust rather than measuring the exact amount and then struggling to get it to cover the pan evenly. It comes out less crispy, but still tastes great.

Comments

[loligo]

Oh, I am intrigued by this crust!

[runpunkrun]

Me too!

[sonia]

Points to reply to loligo for more info.

[sonia]

I've found it to be reliably yummy as long as I'm not trying to imitate a flour crust. Coarsely grated because I'm doing it by hand works fine. Varying proportions of the different veggies because I'm not measuring works fine. Forget to add salt and sprinkle it on top after it's spread in the pan - well, not ideal, but still good.

The only downside is that cleanup is a bit of a pain. I'm using a non-stick 9" round cake pan because that's what I have, and I make sure to grease bottom and sides, and it's still a pain to clean. I wonder if a pyrex pie dish would be easier.

[runpunkrun]

This is where parchment paper comes in! If you put a circle of it down on the bottom of your cake pan it'll make cleanup much easier.

[sonia]

Hm, I will try that out!

[jesse_the_k]

I love this idea! Can't wait to try it.

Best of all, you introduced me to two new green vegetables: sprouting broccoli and rapini! New farmer's market goals are awesome.

I appreciate intuitive cookery, and I'd also like some guidance on cook times for these new-to-me veg. Are they as sturdy as collards?

[sonia]

I'd say you don't want to cook them quite as much as collards because the stalks are thinner. For the quiche, anywhere from barely softened (a couple of minutes) to very soft (5 min? 10?) will work just fine.