We have used the beautiful autumn colours of pumpkin, purple sweet potato, Kipfler potato, cheese and olives, fresh herbs and free range organic eggs make a tasty quiche, just right for lunch.

The vegetables and the pastry can be prepared a day ahead and then it is so easy to assemble and bake.

Autumn Quiche

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 1 cup flour
• 60 g butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 Tblsp chilled water

Quiche:

• 3 organic free range eggs
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, thickly grated
• 1 cup roasted pumpkin, chopped
• 1 small sweet potato, chopped ( I have used purple sweet potato)
• 1 small kipfler  potato, sliced into 1 cm rounds
• 3 pieces of spring onion (shallots) chopped
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• small knob of butter
• 6 Kalamata olives, pitted and  quartered
• 1 large red Spanish onion, sliced
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tblsp parsley, finely chopped

Method:

Pastry:

1. Place cup of flour and salt in food processor and using the metal blade, process for 10 seconds
2. Add the chopped butter and process for 10 seconds or until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
3. Add the water through the feed tube and process until the pastry forms adding a little extra drop if needed.
4. Wrap tightly in cling wrap and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes while you prepare the vegetables.
5. After 30 minutes, roll out the pastry into a circle a little larger than the flan pan and carefully line the flan pan pressing into the inner edges and trimming off the extra
6. Using a fork, prick the pastry all over taking care not to go through the whole thickness.
7. The pastry flan is now ready for filling

Vegetables: (prepared the day before)

1. On the day before, Pre-heat oven to 200 C F
2. Wash pumpkin and scrub the potato and sweet potato
3. Line a baking dish with baking paper
4. Place the cut pumpkin pieces and whole potatoes on tray
5. Spray with olive oil spray to cover
6. Bake for 30- 40 minutes or until tender when tested with a skewer
7. Cool and place in refrigerator when cold. Leave overnight as this makes the cutting and handling the vegetables much easier

Quiche:

1. Next day, pre-heat the oven to 200 C F
2. Use a removable flan tin to make the quiche or any flan tin if one is not availble
3. Heat the olive oil and a knob of butter in a frypan on a low heat and then cook the Spanish onion slices until caramelised
4. Scatter the grated cheddar cheese over the bottom of the pastry lined flan tin.
5. Scatter over the Spanish onion, Spring onion slices and parsley
6. Carefully place the pumpkin, potato, sweet potato in the flan tin
7. Distribute the Kalamata olive pieces around the gaps in the flan
8. grind black pepper over the vegetables
9. Lightly beat the eggs  and milk with a half teaspoon of salt till fully combined
10. Carefully spoon the egg mixture over the vegetables distributing it well
11. Carefully transfer the flan tin to oven and bake the quiche for 10 minutes at 200 C F for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 170 C F for a further 20 minutes, checking to see if the top is browned at the 15 minute mark and covering with foil to protect the surface if necessary. A skewer should come out cleanly when fully cooked.
12. Remove from the flan tin and serve with a mixed salad

A perfect light and tasty lunch full of Autumn’s bounty of pumpkins, sweet potato, Kipfler potato, spring onion, parsley from the garden, the last of the tomato harvest, rocket, cos lettuce and radicchio.  This is how to eat seasonally.