Recipe: grilled vegetable quiche

While I am an absolute carnivore, there are times I yearn for an abundance of vegetables.  

I will then go through phases of "vegetarianism", where I (re) discover the tastes and smells and colours of the vegetable family.  In such cases, it's always good to have a good source of inspiration:  in my case, it's Yotam Ottolenghi and his book "Plenty".  

Plenty recipes to choose from, but this vegetable quiche is one of my favourite staples.

Grilled vegetable quiche

(adapted from Ottolenghi's "Plenty")

1 large aubergine

1 large courgette

2 bell peppers

2 medium potatoes

1 sheet of short crust pastry

2 eggs

150ml cream

100gr ricotta

salt/pepper/paprika/thyme

The only "incovenience" is the actually grilling of the vegetables:  in my case, it took about 15'  to cut everything in 1-cm cubes and another 15' to grill.  Start off with the aubergine, as this needs some marinating in 2tbsp of olive oil and some salt.  In the meantime, you can chop everything else.  

Afterwards, I put everything in two layers in the oven, no extra oil or salt at 200 degrees C -- and was amazed at how well it all turned out, nothing scortched, mushy or raw!

While the vegetables cool down, blind-bake the pastry, using (in my case) all dried-out pulses lying around in my cupboard.  After 20 minutes at 180 degrees C,  return for another 10' without the weights, just to get some lovely golden colour.

Two options:  you can organise the vegetables around the bottom of the quiche or you can just throw everything and let it fall in its place.  Believe me, it will taste wonderful either way...

Don't be surprised to find that the vegetables are filling up the totality of the quiche - it's meant to be this way.  Just try to find some room for ricotta and cover with more vegetables!

Beat the eggs with the cream and season. Carefully, very carefully on top (it helps if you've started with a deep dish).  Bake at 180 degrees C for about 20-30 minutes, until everything sets.

Even my die-hard anti-vegetarian friends were converted - can you blame them? Enjoy!

p.s.  The next time I made this, I "happened" to buy a bag of frozen grilled vegetables, containing the types of vegetables above.  True, it's no longer homemade, but boy, does it deliver!

This post is my entry into Weekend Cooking, a weekly event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. For more information, see the welcome post.