Pumpkin and corn may sound an unusual culinary duo, but they make a real splash of sunny colour and are gorgeous to eat together.
Chenin blanc loves sweet corn – oh yeah! Look for a youngish bottle and enjoy the match.
Ingredients
—Rich shortcrust pastry 225g (8 ounces) standard flour Pinch of salt 170g (6 ounces) butter 1 medium (size 6) free-range egg yolk 3–4 Tbsp chilled water Quiche 700g (about 1½ pounds) firm-fleshed pumpkin (I use grey-skinned crown pumpkin), skinned, deseeded and cut into small chunks Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 cobs sweet corn ½ cup semi-dried tomatoes, drained, mopped and chopped 3 medium (size 6) free- range eggs ½ cup milk ¼ cup cream 2 Tbsp snipped chives 2 Tbsp chopped basil 2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
Method
—1 Make pastry, roll out and line into a 23cm (9”) loose-bottomed flan ring, and bake blind for 20 minutes as described here Rich Shortcrust Pastry.
2 Steam pumpkin until just tender, sprinkling it lightly with salt before cooking. Transfer pumpkin to a large dinner plate, keeping pieces separate so that it cools quickly. Cut into small cubes.
3 Gently boil sweet corn in unsalted water for 10 minutes, drain, and drape with paper towels. When cool, slice kernels off cobs in long strips. Put pumpkin on pastry base, then semi-dried tomatoes and strips of sweet corn.
4 Preheat oven to 190ºC (375°F). Place another baking sheet on a rack in the centre of the oven. Lightly beat eggs, milk and cream together. Add ¾ of a teaspoon of salt, plenty of black pepper and herbs. Pour egg mixture over pumpkin, tomatoes and sweet corn and scatter with parmesan.
5 Slide quiche and paper off cold baking sheet onto hot one in oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until a good golden colour. Cool in flan ring, then transfer to a cake rack and leave until cool.
Recipe notes
There are plenty of tips on making good pastry in the link here Rich Shortcrust Pastry.
It’s important not to overcook the pumpkin because if it gets too soft it will become squishy. Steaming is the best way to cook it as the pumpkin sits above the water and will remain dryer, but if you don’t have a steamer, gently boil it, draining it carefully while it still has resistance when tested with a knife.
Photography Aaron McLean http://www.aaronmclean.com
Julie,you are inspirational! I had a chunk of pumpkin left over that I bought for the Monarch Butterflies when they ran out of swan plant. Also 2 sweetcorn cobs and sundried tomatoes plus all ythe other ingredients in the fridge or garden. It took me about an hour to make this for dinner and it smells divine thank you!!! Not as good looking as yours but great for dinner.
Bless you,
Cheers Sherryn
I’m so pleased to hear that Sherryn. I bet it will be tasty!
Such beautiful quiches!! My nephew and my husband love scrambled eggs with corn mixed in, which I always thought was weird, but it looks good when you did it in a quiche!