13 August 2018

Une quiche aux courgettes, sans pâte

I've found another way to prepare and enjoy zucchini. In some recipes I found on line over the weekend it's called a tian de courgettes, and in others it's called a gratin de courgettes. A tian, by the way, is a Provençal baking dish, and by extension, the summer vegetable concoctions (aubergines, courgettes, tomates, oignons, ail) cooked in it. The base is cooked zucchini, and rice stands in for pie crust. (See recipes in French here and here.)


This tian or gratin is a lot like a quiche, I think, because it includes eggs and cheese. The nice thing about it is the way you prepare the zucchini. Following and adapting the two recipes, mostly for proportions and the method, what you do is peel and scrape the seeds and pulpy centers out of a couple of big courgettes. Save just the firm courgette flesh and cut it into big chunks.



Cook the zucchini pieces in a steamer for a few minutes, until they are fork tender. Then take them out and mash them a little with a big fork. Actually, I used a potato masher. Don't puree the zucchini flesh — you want some chunks of it left in the mixture. I had about 850 grams of zucchini flesh —  nearly 2 lbs. To that, I added about three-quarters of a cup of steamed rice and stirred it in well.



While the zucchini is cooking, sweat some onions and garlic in a skillet until the onion is translucent and has softened slightly. Mix the onion and garlic into the roughly mashed zucchini and cooked rice. Add any other flavor ingredients you want. I put in some smoked pork lardons, a good pinch of dried thyme, and about half a cup of corn kernels, and a few cooked, sliced mushrooms. Don't spare the salt and pepper, of course.






When all the ingredients have cooled, add some grated cheese to the mixture. Some mozzarella, for example, with some grated parmesan is good, or cheddar or "Swiss" cheese. Then beat three eggs in a separate bowl, add a little milk or cream, and pour the liquid mixture over the vegetables. Stir everything to mix well.



Pour the zucchini-egg mixture into a buttered or oiled baking dish. As you can see, I used a big terrine (a loaf pan) because I wanted the gratin to be fairly thick, not just a thin layer like a quiche. You could make it either way. Put a little more grated cheese on top. Bake it at 350ºF (180ºC) in the oven, turning the temperature down as it starts to brown so that it won't burn. It needs to cook for 30 to 40 minutes. It has a pudding-like texture.

17 comments:

  1. I used to make Quiche sans pâte from a recipe our colleague, Annie T., gave me years ago. It was very simple to make and very good, to boot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I made a quiche that way a week or two ago. Never got around to posting about it on the blog.

      Delete
    2. How does this one compare?

      Delete
    3. I like this one a lot. The rice gives the quiche a very nice texture, and the pieces of zucchini in it do too. There are a lot of recipes for crustless quiche on the internet nowadays.

      Delete
  2. where's the zucchini bread? You should have Mom's cook book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, and I have the book. We need to make that. In past years, our neighbors have loved the zucchini bread when Walt has made it and taken them a loaf.

      Delete
  3. Looks good, I don't think I've ever tasted anything like it before.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks delicious...it's like a version of shepherd's pie.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This recipe is just in time! I didn't plant zucchini's this year, but something planted one plant for me. It is a ROUND zucchini. Just google that and you will see what they look like. I have never planted those before. Maybe a neighbor did. This plant is huge even after I have cut it back many times. I have gotten about 60 pounds so far, and I am picking them when they are just about a pound. That is a nice size for stuffing. Friends have taken a few, some have gone into the broth mixture, and a bunch are sitting on the counter. Several in the garden!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, 60 lbs. From one plant? We grew round yellow squashes for a couple of years, and they were good but not much bigger than a baseball. Yours sound like they might be bigger than that. A friend down the road is growing green round zucchini this year, she told me, but I haven't seen them so I'm not sure how big they are.

      Delete
  6. That looks, and sounds, good. I wonder if adding bits of cut-up tomato to the mixture would do anything pro? Or maybe con?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adding tomato was something I thought about doing, so I think it would be a good idea. We've got the dehydrator going, drying six trays of little red and yellow tomatoes cut in half or in quarters, depending on size. Some dried tomatoes, rehydrated slightly, would be good in the crustless zucchini mixture.

      Delete
  7. That looks delicious - and another way of using up our supply of courgettes - if there are any left by the time we get back to France. (We are in the UK having/enduring the re-make of our back garden.) Friends have been asked to harvest them in our absence and we're hoping they still produce into September.
    BTW, I have not left many comments lately because my iPad won't let me. Anything I write just disappears when I click "publish" and it's been happening for about two months now. I can only comment when I fire up the laptop for some reason, as per now, which is not so often these days as I prefer to browse on my iPad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jean, I have the same problem. For a while I was again able to post comments on my ipad using Puffin as my browser, and then, all of a sudden, I can't anymore. To be able to post comments with my ipad, I have to use Chrome, and there is no problem. Internet war between Apple and Google ?

      Delete
    2. Jean, Safari has always had compatibility problems with Blogger. If it's your browser, I understand what's going on. Try Chrome, as CHM says.

      Delete
    3. I found comments from a web developer who says that the Opera browser might be a good solution for people having trouble commenting on IOS.

      Delete

What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?