After almost a decade in Florida I have finally had success with the garden. For the first time since I left Jersey, I have actual home grown vegetables that I can eat. It is so exciting to me that I got a little giddy. Yes, that tells you something about how exciting my life is that I get giddy about vegetables, but there you have it.

I really missed good tomatoes. The kind of tomatoes that actually have flavor. The ones that taste like sunshine – you know, Jersey tomatoes. These are not Jersey tomatoes, but they have actual taste, actual flavor and there are more on the vine! I didn’t get a ton from the first picking, but enough that I decided to make a quiche.

I was pretty excited to have enough vegetables to make stuff with and I decided that the kale and the tomatoes would make a great brunch dish. I picked all the vine ripe tomatoes I had (just a handful, but that was enough) and a few kale leaves and combined that with a small shallot to make the filling for the quiche.

I stuck with a basic recipe and didn’t try to do anything fancy with it. Soften and slightly caramelize the shallots in a little butter, add the kale and cook until bright green and wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add the tomatoes.

I started with my basic pie crust, par baked for ten minutes to prevent the dreaded “soggy bottom” that always gets contestants on the Great British Bake Off in trouble. (If you have no idea what I am talking about, go you-tube and search … warning, the show is addictive.) Once the crust was baked I added the vegetables to the crust, topped with some grated gruyere cheese and then added the egg/milk mixture and baked. The results were fantastic!

Bob and I had the same reaction – we wanted to find fault with this. We wanted it to need something like bacon (or eggplant bacon in my case) but it just didn’t. It had a really good depth of flavor, a good bit of egg taste, the sweetness from the cheese and the freshness of the vegetables. We both went back for seconds.

Recipe:

• handful cherry tomatoes
• handful of kale (maybe 2 ounces??)
• 1 shallot
• 1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese
• 4 eggs
• 150 ml milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pat butter
• 1 pie crust
  • 1.5 cup flour
  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 3-5 tablespoons water

To make the crust, mix flour and half the water in a food processor with a dough blade. Mix and add butter, one pat at a time until incorporated. Turn out onto floured surface and form into ball, adding more water if needed. Roll out into large enough circle to cover pie plate, press into pie plate and place in freezer until over heats.

Heat over to 350 degrees. Once hot, par bake the pie crust, ten minutes. Be sure to fork the crust to prevent air pockets.

While crust cooks, thinly slice the shallot and kale, cut the tomatoes in half. Heat one pat of butter (1/2 tablespoon) in pan and once hot and melted, add the shallot. Cook stirring until soft and slightly browned – three to five minutes – over medium heat. Add the kale and cook, stirring until soft. Add salt and pepper to taste (add more than you think you need so you don’t need to add more to the egg mixture). Toss in tomatoes and mix together.

Spread the kale mixture into the crust, forming a relatively even layer. Top with 1/2 cup grated cheese. Mix 150 ml milk with 4 large eggs and beat to combine. Pour egg mixture over the cheese and kale mix and return to the over. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, covering after 25-30 to prevent the crust from burning. Check that the eggs are cooked by using the toothpick method. Remove from oven, let sit for a few minutes then slice and serve.

*recipe for the quiche adapted from Food.com basic quiche recipe.