How to Bake Butternut Squash-Bacon Quiche

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 35 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients needed to make Butternut Squash-Bacon Quiche:

For the flaky pie dough:

• 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup unsalted butter, chopped into ½’ cubes
• ¼ cup ice water
• ½ tsp sea salt

For the filling:

• ¾ lb butternut squash, peeled, halved and cut into thin slices
• 8 bacon slices
• 8 large eggs
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 yellow onion, halved and cut into thin slices
• 6 large sage leaves
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All purpose flour, for dusting

Cooking instructions for Butternut Squash-Bacon Quiche:

• To make the dough, stir a dash of salt into the flour and dump it into a food processor,a long with the diced butter.
• Pulse until they form a uniform mixture with crumble-like texture and add a splash of ice water to it.
• Continue to process the mixture until the ingredients hold together when pressed together.
• Shape the dough into rectangle, of an inch in thickness and wrap it up in a cling film.
• Place it in the fridge for an hour to let it become firm while you prepare the filling.
• For the quiche, warm up your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Dust your working surface lightly with flour and place the dough on it.
• Roll it out into a flattened 11’’ x 5’’ rectangle and place it on a 9’’ x 13’’ baking dish.
• Fold the excess dough, hanging out from the sides to that they are about an inch high and poke it at several places with a fork.
• Leave it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to make it firm and spread a parchment paper across the dough, pressing it so that it remains in touch with the crust.
• Fill it up with dried beans and bake for about half an hour or until the crust is baked through and the sides brown lightly.
• Remove the beans and parchment paper from it and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the base turns light golden in colour.
• Toss the bacon slices into a large skillet and fry over moderate heat for about 10 minutes or until it turns crispy.
• Transfer them into a plate, lined with paper towels to absorb excess grease and set aside.
• Throw in the onions, along with a dash of seasonings and stir fry for about 10 minutes or until they caramelize.
• Transfer it to the crust and spread it throughout the base.
• Top it up with the butternut squash slices so that they overlap each other partially along the edges.
• Insert a bacon slice between the squash slices at regular intervals.
• Whisk the eggs in a bowl along with the cream, milk, salt and black pepper until well combined and pour most of it over the filling until it reaches the rim of the crust.
• Sprinkle the sage on top and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until it is cooked through and puffs up along the edges.
• Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.
• Slice and serve.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons