Bringing together the flavors of a traditional Greek salad into this Greek Quiche. Filled with sautéed red onions, green bell peppers, oven roasted tomatoes and feta cheese – this quiche is delicious served warm or room temperature!
One of my favorite memories growing up was waking up to the smell of my mom cooking up a storm first thing in the morning. She loved to cook and I always felt like her inspiration came out full force in the springtime. Spurred by beautiful weather, fresh produce and a love of brunch food meant some delicious eats on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Our special weekend brunches weren’t an every weekend thing, so when they happened made them extra special. I still recall the smell of popovers from the oven and the texture of the crust on my mom’s quiche. Even with the recipe in hand, I still can’t replicate it to this day. Some people just have that magic pastry dough making gift and she for sure has it!
When I started planning my Spring Garden Party Menu I absolutely knew that quiche needed to be a part of it. Easy enough to prepare ahead of time, simply delicious served warm or room temperature and with and unlimited number of combinations for the fillings.
In this Greek Quiche I decided to make a play on the traditional Greek Salad compromised of green bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, chunks of feta cheese – all with a generous dusting of dried oregano. As you scroll through the ingredient list you’ll immediately see no cucumbers, while it is a big part of the salad the thought of cooked cucumbers did not appeal to me and the biggest quiche fail is adding is soggy ingredients. So I subbed the cucumber for bacon. It’s a win win situation.
The key to a successful quiche and no soggy bottom is making sure to pre-cook all your fillings ahead of time. Go ahead and take care of this while your pastry dough is chilling in the refrigerator. The longest part is roasting those tomatoes but it’s worth it as it brings out the sweetness and all those juices that you don’t need seeping back into the quiche.
The next part is blind baking the pastry crust. Don’t skip this step and keep and eye on things to make sure your edges don’t brown too much. Most of the time we tend to under bake the crust figuring that the rest will finish up once the filings and custard are placed inside. Guess what happens when something wet hits a half baked crust? It turns soggy. You want that crust to be totally baked through and just barely brown before moving on to the next parts. The best way to figure it all out is by touch – yes it’s hot but I’m not asking you to put your palm down on the tart pan! Use your fingertips and your eyes. Does it looks or feel dry? Does it look matte and not shiny anymore? Then you’re good to move on!
Our Spring Garden Party continues all week long! Check back on the dates below for more recipes for a delicious party!
Tuesday April 18 – Spring Garden Party Menu
Sunday April 23 – Greek Quiche
Tuesday April 25 – Prosciutto and Melon Zucchini Noodle Salad
Thursday April 27 – Raspberry Frangipane Tartlets
Tuesday May 5 – Rosé Aperol Spritz
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted cold butter
- 4 tablespoons ice water
- 5 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 8-10 campari tomatoes, halved
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the flour, salt and butter. Mix on low to medium low speed until the butter is broken up into small pebble sized pieces. Slowly increase the speed size and drizzle in the water 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Feel the dough - if it still feels wet at a little bit of water a time. If it feels properly hydrated increase the speed on the mixer until the dough forms into a ball.
- Remove from the mixer, place in the center of a piece of plastic wrap, flatten into a disc and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Once the dough is completely chilled - remove and roll into a circle to fit a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Make sure the dough is no thinner than 1/4 of an inch. Press the dough round into the tart pan, use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the pan and place in your freezer to chill for abut 15 minutes.
- Heat your oven 375 degrees F.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the pastry dough and fill with beans or pie weights and par bake for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pie weights and parchment paper, return back to the oven to finish baking for about another 15- 20 minutes, making sure the crust doesn't over brown.
- Remove and let cool.
- While the pastry crust is par-baking prepare the filling.
- In a saute pan over medium heat drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the bell peppers and red onion until the onions starts to caramelize. Stirring occasionally - about 25-30 minutes.
- Place the tomatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoons olive oil and season with the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 40 minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the half and half and eggs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Prepare the quiche by placing the cooked bell peppers, onions, crumbled bacon and feta cheese on the bottom of the pastry crust. Arrange the tomatoes on top and then pour the custard over the top.
- Place the quiche on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spills and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. The edges should be set but the middle should jiggle just slightly.
- Let cool for about 30-40 minutes before serving.
