Pesto & Tomato Quiche with Potato Crust
Quiches are one of those breakfast dishes that would be so convenient to make ahead and eat throughout the week. That is, if my family would get on board the quiche train and eat it without complaint. The noses start scrunching up when they smell that smell, you know, the one the smells like you put the egg bowl in the dishwasher and it got super hot and overcooked-egg-smelling? I can’t blame them, it’s a pretty unappetizing smell. Well, I figured, what if I just cooked the quiche at the lowest heat possible and let it set custard like without the browned puffed (overcooked) egg topping. Yea, it worked like a charm. Then I thought, what if I didn't need to roll out a pastry crust and just used crispy smashed potatoes as the base? Yea, it’s like a hashbrown dream. Add pesto and sautéed tomatoes for the ultimate summer twist and boom, dream breakfast realized.
Ingredients:
Makes 6 servings
Potato Crust:
1 pound baby potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Filling:
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
a bit of butter
pinch of salt
8 eggs
1 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1 teaspoon salt
fresh pepper to taste
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup pesto (homemade or storebought)
Directions:
Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes until a fork easily pierces the skin to the center. Drain and set aside to dry.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grab a pie pan and use a wide bottomed glass rubbed with olive oil to press the cooked potatoes into the dish evenly. It should look like a pie crust. Give it a drizzle of olive oil over top and use your hands to gently rub it all over. Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes. While the crust is baking, sauté the halved tomatoes in a bit of butter with a pinch of salt.
Now, whisk the eggs in a large bowl with the heavy cream, salt, and pepper until very incorporated, you don’t want to see streaks of egg whites. You can even do this in a blender quickly, taking care not to overdo it. Pour the egg mixture over the potato crust. Sprinkle the tomatoes, dollops of pesto and parmesan over top. Drop the oven temperature to 350 degrees and pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes. You want the eggs to just be set, not too jiggly, but not set hard. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes, slice and serve!
