Goat Cheese Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust

It’s the final two weeks of school and my brain is the consistency of mush. This isn’t exactly the state you want to be in before you’ve written your finals. So, in an act to solidify my brain and hopefully the content I’m studying, I turn to cooking. I have an endless number of recipes I want to try but never feel like I have the time. I love my classics — recipes I know will work no matter what consistency my brain is. But today was time to try something new. Goat cheese quiche with sweet potato crust. The pictures from the blog are fabulous and coax me into believing anything they can do I can do better. I was wrong. I managed to hold my own and I’m blaming study-brain and a limiting 10-inch spring-form pan, instead of the recommended 9-inch pan.

The recipe is great; hearty ingredients and a new twist for a quiche by having a sweet potato crust. It was a touch more time-consuming than I had initially anticipated. It may have helped if I had read the recipe in it’s entirety to see the different cooking steps before starting to cook at 6 p.m. The recipe itself isn’t hard to make. The toughest part was grating sweet potatoes for the crust. My arms were exhausted by the time I was done the second potato! Apparently I need to do more upper body work.

I think next time I make this I’ll mix up the filling ingredients and add some ham or bacon to liven it up. A simple and satisfying recipe, and an easy one to play around with in terms of filling options! Get creative, have fun with it, and enjoy the sweet potato crust. It’s totally worth the arm workout.

Goat Cheese Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust
Recipe from Farm Girl Gourmet
Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes (yams), about 2 large, peeled and grated on a large holed box grater
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 12 large eggs, divided
• 1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 5 ounces goat cheese
• 5 green onions, sliced thin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Butter the sides and bottom of a nine-inch springform pan with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Cut parchment paper in a circle the diameter of the bottom and another to fit the sides of the pan (one circle and one long rectangle). Line the pan with the parchment, pressing into the butter to adhere. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and brush the side and bottom parchment layers. Set aside.
3. Add the grated sweet potatoes to a large piece of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel. Gather corners together and squeeze out excess water over the sink. You may need to do this in stages.
4. Add the squeezed potatoes to a large bowl. In another small bowl whisk together 1 egg, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Pour over sweet potatoes and toss lightly to coat. Press into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
5. Turn oven down to 375 F.
6. In a large bowl, add 11 eggs, sour cream, goat cheese, green onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Whisk well to combine.

Before adding the eggs to the crust, press the sides of the crust carefully to adhere back to the springform pan if they have sagged. Add the egg mixture without overfilling beyond the crust. Bake 30 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 F and bake 30 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue cooking 15 minutes longer. The center may still be jiggle a little. It will set as it cools. Allow to rest 20 minutes before serving.