Swiss Chard and Gruyere Quiche

The world and her wonderful seasons are turning, once again, and with it, my favourite of all the seasons is just around the corner: summer.

Along with the smell of fresh cut grass, laundry on the line, morning rain, and time spent at the beach and on the water, the growing season of summer provides the very essence of life to this Kitchen Witch and I'm so excited to have my first planting of the season done.

Here's my sweet little dog Max  last summer by the lettuce garden just as the first few plants began to come up...

With that in mind, I'm excited for today's "Monday Tips and Techniques" to share my tried and true, adapted over 25 years of pie making, best ever recipe for the flakiest pie crust in the world, and one of my favourite quiches.

The pie crust in unbelievably flaky, and the garden fresh filling of Swiss chard, sauteed onions and Gruyere cheese will have you putting this economical, garden friendly dish onto your favourites list.

Proof positive that seemingly complicated cooking techniques like quiche and pie crust are easier than you ever thought with The Kitchen Witch!

Visit the printable recipe here: Summertime Quiche

And if you haven't been following  my popular web series Cherry Hill, now is a great time to hop on board! Find out why this fun foodie adventure is capturing the hearts and minds of people everywhere with this week's episode: Jack's Secret Love

Enjoy today's easy to follow step by step video.




Swiss Chard and Gruyere Quiche

Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 5 1/12 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 lb cold lard, or unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 cup ice cold water

Directions

1. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the lard or butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Whisk the vinegar and egg in a liquid measuring cup and add enough ice water to make 1 cup. Mix into the flour mixture with a fork or your hands until just combined.
4. Transfer to a clean work surface, and gently press to form a dough.
5. Divide dough into 6 equal parts.
6. Shape each into a ball, flatten into a small round disc and wrap in plastic.
7. Chill for at least 1 hour or place in a freezer bag and freeze.
8. Roll out disc on lightly floured surface to 1/8" thickness.
9. Transfer  to a 9 inch pie plate

Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust disc
• 1 bunch swiss chard leaves, ribs removed, julienned (5 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
•  1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup Gruyere cheese
• 1/2 tsp herbes de provence or dried thyme
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft, but not brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in salt, pepper and the herbes de provence, then add the swiss chard and continue cooking for 2 minutes more until the chard has wilted.
4. Set the swiss chard mixture in a colander in the sink to cool for 5 minutes, then gently press out any excess moisture.
5. Place the pie crust in a 9″ pie pan. Crimp the edges of the dough to form a decorative edge, if desired.
6. In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, milk,, eggs, egg yolk, and Gruyere cheese. Whisk well to combine.
7. Spread the chard mixture evenly in the pie shell and pour the egg mixture over the top.
8. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and continue baking until the quiche is set and lightly browned about 35 minutes.
9. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Author:

Lyndsay Wells is a professional trainer, writer, and program developer with a passion for food and cooking. She is an award winning recipe developer, and a website ambassador for Kraft Foods Canada. Lyndsay believes cooking should be approachable and easy and has great tips and ideas for putting together sophisticated looking dishes that cooks of all levels can accomplish.

Visit her daily on her blog, The Kitchen Witch or on her YouTube Channel, CHARMED With The Kitchen Witch.