Butternut Squash, Bacon and Blue Cheese Quiche....

The title of this post is on the long side but I can't leave out any of the three crucial ingredients, trust me. Butternut squash quiche just doesn't spin my disco ball, but throw in some applewood smoked bacon and creamy Castello blue cheese and I'm on my back like a puppy having his stomach scratched! I wanted to use pumpkin but the store didn't have any...say what, no pumpkin in November? You might want to get some ordered for, oh I dunno..thanksgiving! I don't think there's a huge difference between the two so my trip to quiche town continued, in fact in Australia the squash is regarded as a pumpkin.

This quiche would be a great brunch item for thanksgiving morning, it could even be made the night before. Lets be honest, It's not like we're looking for extra kitchen duties that day, right? The flavors are perfect together and will really get your appetite going for the mass of food later in the day. Any blue cheese would work but I used Castello which is a really creamy blue cheese from Denmark. It's so good you should try it just on bread or crackers. I didn't make my own pastry for the tart shell, sometimes it's easier and smarter to take the simpler route so I used some frozen pastry dough for this quiche but if you want to elevate yourself to kitchen big cheese, then you go for it and put that rolling pin into action! You can use the pastry from this crostata recipe which would work just fine. Serve this quiche hot or cold, with a green salad or even some quinoa or couscous.

Butternut Squash Quiche with Bacon and Blue Cheese, adapted from Yankee magazine:

Prep Time- 50 minutes    Bake Time- 35-40 minutes    Serves- 8-10

1 pre-cooked 9 inch tart shell
1 butternut squash, you'll need a cup and a half cooked for the quiche. Keep the extra for something else
Half of a red onion, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs

4 slices cooked bacon, roughly chopped, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
2 ounces blue cheese
Pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 385 degrees. Bake the tart shell as per the directions and set aside.

Peel the skin from the squash and take out the seeds. Chop the squash into small 1 inch cubes and transfer to a bowl. Roughly slice the onion and add to the bowl.

Add the olive oil, sliced onion, cinnamon  salt and pepper to the squash and toss until it's well covered. Place on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Place in the oven and bake until the squash can be easily pierced with a sharp knife, about 40 minutes. Gently crush the cubes of squash with a fork.

In a large bowl , whisk together the eggs and cream. Add a cup and a half of the crushed squash, bacon and nutmeg and gently mix together. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the baked tart shell and spread it out until it's even. Sprinkle the leftover bacon on top along with small dollops of the blue cheese. Place on a baking tray and bake for 35 minutes until set in the middle.