Caramelized Onion Quiche with Potato Crust

Cidell came to visit this weekend so we could take lots of measurements. She has this crazy idea in her head that we are going to start fitting our patterns! Like I said, crazy.

She came down on Saturday night and we got all pretty and went out.



Knowing that we would need sustenance in the morning before a long day of measuring, I made a quiche the night before to have in the fridge. I don't like pie crust and I find it tiresome to make, so taking a cue from the Spanish tortilla (a cold omelette like item with potatoes in it, not the Mexican flatbread tortilla) I use potatoes instead. Once you try it you won't go back.

Quiche is an easy (though not quite quick because of the long cooking time) dish for a satisfying brunch, and you can make it in almost infinite variations. Here's one of them.

Caramelized Onion Quiche with Potato Crust

3-4 medium sized red potatoes
Medium onion
Swiss Cheese
Eggs
Cottage Cheese
Milk
Thyme
Ground Bay Leaf
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper

1. Slice the potatoes very thinly, about 1/8 inch. I use my mandoline for this. No need to peel. Place in cold water on the stove and when it comes to a boil set the timer for four minutes. This will parboil the potatoes to make sure they are not crunchy when the quiche comes out of the oven. Drain. When cool enough to handle, oil your pie pan and layer the potato slices to form a crust.


2. Thinly slice an onion. I used the 1/4" setting on my mandoline for this. Heat a pan over medium heat and when heated pour in some olive oil and add the onion. Saute until it turns golden almost to brown. Spread the caramelized onions over the potato crust.



3. Grate cheese over the onions. I like to use Swiss cheese because it has a strong flavor that stands up to the other ingredients.



4. Mix up the filling. For this 9 inch pie I used 3 eggs plus the white of an egg I had leftover from another recipe, about half the container of cottage cheese (1 cup), and about half a cup of milk. There's really no need to measure, just make it liquid but not soupy. Use herbs and spices to your liking. For this one I used thyme, ground bay leaf (it's Badia brand from the Hispanic foods section), salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. I normally wouldn't add salt, but I accidentally bought no-salt-added cottage cheese. If I had made spinach quiche, I would have used basil and oregano. Mushroom would have been thyme and sage. Pour the filling over the crust, onions, and cheese. Don't get too ambitious in how much filling you make, because it will puff up during cooking and could overrun the pan if you've filled it to the very top.

5. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until it is firm in the center and the top is beginning to brown. The outer potatoes will be very dark and crispy (but not burnt). If you had any potato rounds leftover, toss them in olive oil, place on a baking sheet in a single layer, sprinkle with salt, and throw them in the oven with the quiche for some oven potato chips.

And you have a quiche! Serve warm, tepid, or cold. I prefer warm, but I don't like cold foods. I made this the night before and refrigerated when it was cooled. To serve, I cut two slices, grated a little extra cheese over the top, and heated in a 200 degree (Farenheit) toaster oven until warm. Yum!