Butternut squash and goat cheese quiche

This is a very autumnal recipe, but  even in the high of summer it still finds ya place on our table. Eat it hot or cold, in front of the fire in winter or out picnicking in the sun in summer, with a side of salad (or not!), it is really easy to make.

It's not the fastest quiche to make as unlike others you will have too pre-cook the veg before filling up your pastry, but that preparation is very versatile so you can make a big batch of it and use it for several dishes. Pop the roasted veg on lettuce/couscous/whatever else you fancy for a nice salad, blend them to make a puree, add stock to the puree for a soup...the combinations are endless! 

You will need:

1 butternut squash

2 red onions

2 sprigs of sage (about 8-10 leaves)

1/2 log of goat cheese

40g of pine nuts

Shortcrust pastry

2 eggs

75 mL of milk

Hot paprika (2tbsp)

Olive oil (1tbs)

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven at 180C fan.  Roughly chop the onions, peel and cut the squash into cubes and place in a roasting tray. Add the sage, paprika, salt and pepper and olive oil. Mix thoroughly so that the spices and oil coat every single pieces. Pop in the oven for 45 min (give it a shake half way through to make sure all the pieces are evenly cooked).

2. In the meantime, roll your pastry out  quite thinly and line your tray.  You can make your own pastry, but shop bought works just as well. Place some parchment paper on top and fill with ceramic baking beans (or dry pulses, or pennies...whatever you have, they all work!)

 and blind bake your pastry for 10 min in the oven (pop it on a different shelf in your oven at the same time as your veg to save some time).

3. Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan.

4. Traditionally the binding of the quiche uses double cream but I find it to be quite heavy. Instead I use the lighter the egg/milk combination. Downside is that it makes for a more runny filling which takes a little longer to cook. Beat the eggs and milk together until fully combined.

5. When the veg are done, pop them into your pastry case, add the chunks of goat cheese and sprinkle with pine nuts. Amounts are up to you really, you can make it as cheesy as you want...personally I cram as much as I can in there! Or whatever is left from me trying not to eat the whole lot as I prepare the rest!

6. Pour the egg mixture until you reach the top of the pastry (depending on how much filling you have you might not need all of it) and pop your quiche in the oven for 40 min.

Done, all that's left to do it eat!