Friday, April 4, 2014

Recipe: Cauliflower and Speck Quiche

I really enjoy making quiche.  It doesn't take much effort and a quiche can feed me for a couple of days since I'm on my own. But it makes a great side dish for a family as well. And it can also very easily hide any number of vegetables from a picky eater.
At the market last week, I found individual cauliflower heads and thought they'd be great to add to a quiche.
I also bought some speck which is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham (similar to prosciutto crudo). It is lightly cured, and then is alternatively exposed to smoke and fresh air. It is smokier, drier and saltier than a prosciutto crudo.
To go with the speck, I also got a smoked scamorza cheese (scamorza affumicata). Scamorza is similar to mozzarella but generally drier and more elastic. It can either be sold after a two week drying process, or it can be smoked. The smoked scamorza has a wonderful, subtle flavor that has a light caramel note that I really enjoy.

Ingredients
3 single small heads of cauliflower (or 1 regular sized cauliflower)
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 or 2 pats of butter
200 gr speck
1 small smoked scamorza, diced
4 eggs
1-2 tbs whole milk
basil
pepper
parmesan cheese
1 pre-made pie crust

Pre-heat the over to 350°.
Cut the cauliflower into pieces and add to boiling water. You can add a pinch of salt, but not too much
because the speck acts like bacon and is full of flavor and salt. When the cauliflower is cooked, drain and put to the side to cool.
Slice up the speck evenly.  If you don't have speck, you can also use prosciutto crudo or bacon. If you decide to use bacon, be sure sure to drain the excess fat.
Sweat the onion in butter and then add the speck into the pan as soon as the onion starts to become transparent. Let cook for a minute or so (so it just barely starts to change color) and remove from the heat.
In a bowl, beat 4 eggs, milk, pepper, basil and parmesan together. When it's blended well, add in the scamorza, cauliflower and speck/onion mixture.
Pour into the pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes. The crust should turn golden the the egg should be cooked all the way through.

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