From the Kitchen
Garden & Grill: A Summer Vegetable Quiche
A buttery, golden quiche layered with grilled zucchini, blistered cherry tomatoes, and creamy goat cheese, the season's most effortless centerpiece, equally at home on a brunch table, a beach picnic, or a candlelit terrace dinner.
There is a particular alchemy to a summer quiche, the way a flaky pastry shell becomes a vessel for whatever the garden has offered that morning. This rendition leans entirely into the season: zucchini lightly charred on the grill, cherry tomatoes blistered until they collapse into something jammy, and a quiet ribbon of goat cheese folded through eggs and cream. It is unfussy in the way the best warm-weather cooking always is, yet refined enough to set on a linen-draped table without apology.
Ingredients
- 1 nine-inch buttery pastry crust (homemade or all-butter store-bought)
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch rounds
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup grated Gruyère or sharp white cheddar
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt & freshly cracked pepper
For the Custard
- 4 large farm eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
1. Blind-bake the crust: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line the chilled pastry shell with parchment, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake 15 minutes. Remove the weights and bake another 5 minutes until the base is dry and just beginning to color. Set aside.
2. Grill the vegetables: Brush the zucchini rounds with olive oil, season with salt, and grill over medium-high heat for 1–2 minutes per side, until distinct char marks appear. Toss the cherry tomatoes in olive oil and blister them in a grill basket or hot skillet for 2–3 minutes, until the skins split.
3. Whisk the custard: In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg until smooth and uniform.
4. Assemble: Scatter the shallot, Gruyère, and half of the herbs across the bottom of the par-baked crust. Arrange the grilled zucchini in a loose overlapping pattern, tuck in the blistered tomatoes, and dot generously with crumbled goat cheese. Slowly pour the custard over the top until it reaches just below the rim.
5. Bake: Transfer to the oven and bake at 375°F for 35–40 minutes, until the custard is set in the center with only the faintest wobble and the surface is golden.
6. Rest & finish: Allow the quiche to rest 15 minutes before slicing, the custard will continue to firm. Finish with the remaining fresh basil and thyme, a final crack of pepper, and a whisper of flaky sea salt.
Summer, gathered into a single golden slice, the garden, the grill, and a little patience.