Butternut squash quiche is an easy and elegant solution to the question of what’s for winter holiday brunch. We can’t decide which we like more—the jewel-toned hues or the velvety texture or the rich savoriness drawn from brown butter, sage, and roasted butternut squash.
This butternut squash quiche with sage and brown butter flaunts jewel-toned hues on your holiday table with its vibrant bursts of orange and flecks of dark green. The trio of flavors is a classic combination, although you probably have yet to experience these ingredients in anything quite as velvety rich as this quiche. Perfect sliced into wedges for the brunch holiday table although it works equally well as a simple vegetarian supper or sliced into slivers as cocktail party fare. Versatile and vegetarian.–Renee Schettler Rossi
☞ Contents
Butternut Squash Quiche
Equipment
- 9-inch (22-centimeter) deep dish tart pan or 10-inch (25-centimeter) tart pan
Ingredients
- Butter for the tart pan
- 1 recipe pastry crust
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus more for the work surface
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (200 grams) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 good pinches sea salt or to taste
- Plenty of cracked black pepper
- 1/2 large butternut squash
- 3 sprigs thyme leaves removed
- 1 head garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 10 sage leaves
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter a 9-inch (22-centimeter) deep-dish tart pan or a 10-inch (25-centimeter) tart pan.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out your chilled pastry so it’s a little wider than your pan and press it into your buttered tart pan. Line it with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans or ceramic weights, then bake for 25 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and brush the pastry with the beaten egg. Return it to the oven and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden.
- Whisk the flour into one of the eggs to make a paste. Add the remaining eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until fully incorporated. Whisk in the cream and milk. Strain this mixture into a bowl to remove any lumps of flour. Season with the sea salt and plenty of cracked black pepper. This can now rest while you prebake the pastry or it can be made a day ahead, covered, and refrigerated.
- Meanwhile, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel and slice your butternut squash into slices 1/4 inch (5-milllimeter) thick and up to a few inches in length and then spread them on the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the thyme. Slice the head of garlic through its middle, revealing the cross section of cloves. Place that on the sheet, too. Drizzle everything with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Bake until the butternut squash is softened, about 30 minutes. Transfer the roasted squash slices to the tart pan and return the baking sheet to the oven until the garlic is softened and has a creamy texture that’s spreadable when you squeeze the tip of the papery husk around each clove. This will probably take at least another 10 minutes, depending on the size of your garlic cloves. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin onto the squash.
- Turn the oven down to 355°F (180°C). Replace the oily parchment with a fresh piece of parchment paper and place the quiche on the lined baking sheet.
- Pour the egg and cream mixture over the squash and garlic. In a small frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to sizzle and foam. Just as the white milk solids that have settled to the bottom of the pan start to turn golden brown, drop in your sage leaves. Let them sizzle and curl up for a moment, then take the pan off the heat. Drizzle the brown butter over the quiche.
- Bake the quiche for 50 to 60 minutes, until it’s souffléd and golden. Leave to rest for 15 minutes or serve at room temperature.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
The fall flavors in this butternut squash quiche will not disappoint. The roasted squash and garlic are delicious and brighten the whole dish. The recipe takes a bit of time to put together, but the finished dish is well worth the effort. It’s a hearty quiche and would hold its own as a vegetarian or meatless Monday main dish. Straightforward except for the amount of salt and pepper. I added 15 grinds of each, and the final flavor seemed appropriately seasoned, but I really had to guess on the amount. I took the quiche out after 50 minutes, and it was beautifully golden brown and puffed. Delicious and wonderful for fall. As an aside, this leaves you with half a butternut squash for another recipe. I highly recommend Ina Garten’s Maple Roasted Butternut Squash from her Back to Basics book. It calls for sage, too, so if you bought it for this recipe, you can use the rest in this recipe.
I thought this butternut squash quiche was quite amazing. Both delicate yet full of flavor—delicate in terms of the taste of the butternut squash, and full of flavor from the sage butter and the garlic. The timing for the butternut squash and garlic in the oven was spot-on. The squash was nice and tender and a tad caramelized, and the garlic was nice and soft. Assembling the quiche was pretty easy and again, the timing in the oven was perfect. By minute 53, the quiche was ready. We ate it nice and hot straight out of the oven. The quiche held together well, and the flavors were simply fantastic, though it is more of an adult taste compared to the typical quiche Lorraine. I had a few slices left over, which I took to work the next day and ate cold, and they were still very good.
At first glance, it looks like there’s a lot to do for this delicious butternut squash quiche recipe, but once the work is planned, it comes together rather easily. The kitchen smells divine during the roasting and baking process, and the quiche is delicious. I was pressed for time, so I used store-bought chopped fresh butternut squash. I followed the directions, and in about 50 minutes, I had a delicious and aesthetically pleasing quiche.
This butternut squash quiche is holiday-ready and terrific to add to a family dinner or party. The small cubes of butternut squash maintain their shape and make the dish festive and jewel-like when you cut it into servings. The filling puffed up nicely and had good texture and flavor. The garlic was a bit overpowering even though it’s roasted. I’d probably reduce the amount and chop it a bit to distribute it more evenly. The last issue is really just one of personal taste, and that is the squash is a very sweet element, and I would like to back it up with a little contrast. (To keep the quiche vegetarian, I would probably go with some medium heat from roasted, chopped green chiles or bright, tangy piquillos. For carnivores, a few ounces of cooked, crumbled prosciutto would work really well to balance the sweetness.) The sage and brown butter topping is a really nice touch. Be sure to use the smaller sage leaves so you can distribute the flavor a bit better. Make the crust the night before and, if you are super organized, cut up your butternut squash ahead of time and refrigerate it. At room temperature, this is very easy to slice into. I might just line the entire pan, even up the sides, with parchment paper next time to make removing the quiche for serving and slicing extra easy.
Originally published November 13, 2016
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
What do you think of adding Penney’s granulated roasted garlic to the filling vs. roasting fresh garlic for this quiche?
Ellen, I’ve never used the product, so I can’t say how it would compare in terms of flavor and amount to use in place of fresh roasted garlic. However, if you are familiar and comfortable with it, I think you could swap it in. If you try it, do let us know how it turns out!
We loved it! I actually made it crustless to save on carbs. I used a 9.5” Pyrex pie plate, which worked out well. And I substituted delicate squash for the butternut. Everything else was the same. It’s a keeper : )
Wonderful! I’m so pleased to hear that, Ellen.
Thanks, Angie. I love Penzeys herbs and spices, which I have used for many many years, but the roasted garlic is a new product for me, which I purchased based on its many positive reviews. I think that I will try it, and I will be sure to let you know how it worked.
Ellen, we look forward to hearing how it went!
Well, guess what? I found my stash of roasted garlic hidden in a little container way back in the freezer, so I won’t have to substitute the granulated roasted garlic after all, at least this time!
Great, Ellen! We can’t wait to hear how it turns out.
This is my “go-to” quiche recipe, it is elegant and delicious and craveable, as opposed to most quiche recipes which are usually pretty blah.
Thanks, Hope! We’re delighted that you love this as much as we do and appreciate you taking the time to let us know.
Does this freeze well? If so, at what point would you freeze it. How would you heat it to serve? Thank you
Hi Ad, thanks for your question about the quiche. Honestly, I would make the components a day ahead (see step 3) if you are trying to make this in advance. The finished quiche puffs up like a soufflé with a beautiful crust and I worry that freezing would affect the delicate nature.
Hello! I can’t wait to try this quiche! I just had one question: the recipe says to “slice the butternut squash into 1/4″ slices,” but one tester refers to the squash being cubed. To me, 1/4″ cubes seem quite small, especially for 30 minutes of roasting. Since squash is cut in half, I assumed lengthwise, should squash be in 1/4″ inch slices (like half moons) across the squash or cut into 1/4″ cubes? Probably doesn’t matter other than texture/visual differences, and perhaps roast time. Just curious how you made it. Thanks, LC!
Alex H., excellent question, thank you for raising it. It means slices 1/4 inch thick, the length of which is up to you. In another photo in the book the slices looked rather long—perhaps 3 or so inches. I’ve just tweaked the wording of the recipe to hopefully clarify how to slice it. Hope you enjoy it as much as our testers did—they’re still raving!
Thanks so much, Renee! This is on my list for next weekend!
Swell! Love to hear what you think.