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In my personal vegetable hierarchy, cabbage falls squarely in the “meh” category. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t crave it, either. Mostly I forget about cabbage until the late fall, when they’re some of the only local produce left in the markets and I’m again seduced by their glossy leaves—particularly the siren song of the anthocyanin-rich red cabbage.

Last fall was no exception to my seduction by cabbages. I bought a cabbage for the express purpose of making the cabbage and mushroom handpies from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons, which is an excellent book that you should look at immediately. We demolished the pies in short order, astounded by how well the cabbage’s earthy notes played against a buttery pie crust. (Truly, what won’t pie crust improve?)

Despite proper prior planning, I ended up with extra filling. Coupled with an errant CSA order that left me with a surfeit of bacon, I figured the best thing to do would be sauté the bacon, add it to the leftover veg filling, and bake the whole mess into a quiche. My experiment turned out to be a use-up-the-random-ingredients-in-the-refrigerator match made in heaven, good enough to make on purpose for my family’s Christmas Eve brunch, where it was promptly devoured.

Bacon, Cabbage, and Mushroom Quiche

Source: I Thought There Would Be Free Food

Makes 1 9-inch quiche, serving 6–8 people

Active time: ~1 hour; total time: ~a little less than 2 hours

Note: You can split up the time it takes to make this dish by preparing the pie crust and filling up to two days ahead of time. Wrap the pie crust well and keep in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. Sauté the bacon and vegetables and store separately until ready to use, then simply combine with the eggs and cream.

Pie Crust Ingredients: (Optional; feel free to substitute one pre-made, refrigerated pie crust)

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter (leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it)
• 3–4 tablespoons ice water

Bacon, Cabbage, and Mushroom Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound mushrooms, any variety
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 pound cabbage, any variety
• 1/2 pound bacon (easily omitted to make this quiche vegetarian)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup cream

Directions:

• Make the crust: Do your future self a favor by laying a sheet of plastic wrap on your counter and making sure you have a large bowl handy.
• Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Take the butter from the fridge and chop it into 1/2-inch cubes. Scatter the butter into the flour mixture and pulse until the butter is coarsely ground. Add 3 tablespoons of ice water and pulse 2–3 times, then dump the contents into a large bowl. Gently press a bit of the dough together; if it holds, proceed to the next step. If it does not, add additional water as necessary.
• Gather the dough into a loose clump and then transfer it to the plastic wrap. Use the corners of the plastic wrap to form the dough into a disc about 2 inches tall. Make sure the dough is completely covered in plastic, then transfer to your refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
• Make the filling: Wash the mushrooms and then set them in a colander to drain. Meanwhile, dice the onion, then set it aside. Core the cabbage any remove any rubbery outer leaves, then finely slice and finally chop into pieces approximately 1-inch long; set the cabbage aside, too. Trim the tough ends off of the mushrooms—no need to discard the stems entirely—then thinly slice the mushrooms and, you guessed it, set them aside.
• I like to trim some of the excess fat from my bacon before cooking it; feel free to join me in doing so, or just plan to drain more fat from the skillet after the bacon cooks. Choose your own adventure, and then chop the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces.
• It’s time to cook! Warm a bit of oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Once the oil and skillet are hot, add the bacon and sauté it until browned and crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate.
• Pour off any excess bacon grease, leaving just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Return the skillet to medium-high heat; once it’s up to temperature, add the mushrooms and sauté. Most varieties of mushrooms release quite a lot of water, and you want to cook most of this off.
• Once much of the water has evaporated and the mushrooms are browning, reduce the heat to medium, then add the onions and sauté them until they begin to turn translucent. Add the cabbage and cook until it has softened and the vegetable mixture is quite dry—this will help prevent your quiche from being weepy. Season your veggie medley with salt and pepper to taste, then remove the skillet from the heat.
• Position a rack in the bottom third of your oven, then preheat it to 400°F. Take your pie crust out of the refrigerator.
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and cream. Add the vegetable mixture and bacon, and stir to distribute the ingredients evenly. Set the bowl aside.
• Prepare a place to roll out your pie crust, dusting the surface with a bit of flour and setting out a rolling pin, sharp knife, and 9-inch pie plate. I like to bake my pies and quiches on a parchment-lined baking sheet, just in case there are any eruptions or overflows, and this would be a good time to get that ready, too.
• When the crust is roll-able, do so, working from the middle of the dough out. It’s okay to use a fair amount of flour to make sure the crust doesn’t stick, just be sure to dust it off before you fit it to the pie plate. Once the crust is about half rolled out, try to gently pick it up, dust your work surface with flour again, flip the crust over, dust it again with flour, and continue rolling.
• Transfer the crust to a 9-inch pie plate and trim away any extra dough before crimping or fluting or otherwise finishing the crust.
• Pour the egg-vegetable mixture into the prepared crust and then carefully transfer the pie plate to the oven. I recommend baking the quiche on a rack set in the bottom third of your oven, which helps cook the bottom of the pie crust, but make sure that your oven doesn’t run hot or you might end up with a more-browned-than-desired crust. If your oven does run warm, just reduce the heat by 10 degrees or so.
• Bake the quiche for ~40–45 minutes, or until the quiche is lightly browned, slightly puffed, and doesn’t Jell-O jiggle when you give it a shake. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly before digging in.
• Note: It’s totally unorthodox, but this quiche is even more delicious with a smear of Dijon or stone ground mustard on top.