Quiche with Shiitake, Scallions & Favas

I make quiche quite a lot in my house. I know I've said this before, but it really is such a great way to use up all the vegetable stragglers lingering in your crisper, the bits of cheese, the last few eggs... And, if you make your own pastry, always make a double batch so you have one round in the freezer, ready to go for moments such as these when you want to whip up a quiche for dinner with minimal fuss.

I recently read a recipe where the milk was addd to the vegetables while they cooked, reducing the milk slightly and infusing it with the flavor of the simmering veggies. I thought this was a brilliant idea and one I'd never thought of. Usually, I just whisk the milk and eggs together, stir in the cooked veggies and then put everything right into the crust. This method intrigued me so I thought I'd adapt it to some of my favorite vegetables in season right now.

This quiche would be positively divine with fresh morels. I couldn't find them so I used shiitake instead. I also decided to make a puree of fresh fava beans and spread that in the bottom of the crust, a fava 'pesto' of sorts. A few fresh scallions, a couple of farm eggs, and a little grated cheese (I used gruyere), and you're all set for a positively delicious and impressive dinner.

For the quiche:

Yields 1, 9" quiche:

9 oz Pate Brisee (see below)

flour for dusting

1 TB olive oil

6 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

1/2 # fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh fava bean puree (see below)

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 large eggs

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a well floured board, roll out the pate brisee to 9" diameter x 1/4" thick. Press into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Press a piece of parchment firmly into the bottm of the crust and fill with dried beans or pie weights to weigh down the crust when pre-baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the crust is very light golden brown. Remove the parchment and the weights.

2) Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, salt & pepper and continue cooking until the mushrooms are tender, about 3-5 minutes longer. Add the milk and cream and simmer the mixture together until the milk reduces slightly, about 5 minutes more.

3) Whisk the eggs together in a medium bowl. When the vegetable-milk-cream mixture is slightly cooled, whisk that into the eggs. Add the cheese and stir to combine. Spread the 1/4 cup of fava been puree into the bottom of the pre-baked crust. Then, pour the custard-vegetable mixture into the crust and return it to the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the custard is set and the quiche is golden brown. Cool to just warm or room temperature before serving.

For the Pate Brisee:

Yields 20 oz

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1" pieces

1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 TB sugar

3 TB ice water

1) In a food processor, pulse together the flours, xanthan, sugar and salt. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stream in the water, 1 TB at a time, and continue pulsing, until the dough just comes together.

2) Turn out the dough onto a well floured board and finish kneading, until dough holds together. Pat out into 2 discs, about 10 ounces each. Wrap discs tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before using, or freeze up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using.

For the Fava Puree:

Yields 1 cup

1 1/2 # fresh fava beans

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1 TB plus 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 TB olive oil

1) Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the 1 TB salt and return to a simmer. Have a bowl of ice water at the ready. Prepare the fava beans by removing the beans from the pod. Add the shelled favas to the simmering water and blanch until bright green and just tender, about 1 minute. Immediately stop the cooking process by shocking the favas in the ice water bath.

2) Once the fava beans are cool enough to handle, remove the outer skin, reserving just the bright green legume inside.

3) Add the prepared favas, the 1/2 tsp salt & the black pepper to a food processor. Pulse to combine. With the machine running, stream in the olive oil. Remove the mixture to a small bowl and stir in the Parmesan cheese.