For lunch on Friday, and for the next three days, I baked the Spaghetti Squash and Parmesan Cheese Quiche from Ken Haedrich’s Harvest Baker (188-189). I make some changes to reduce the saturated fat. First, I used my buttermilk oil crust. As it is a savory pie, I delete the sugar from my recipe, use olive oil rather than canola, and replaced the whole wheat pastry flour with barley flour, as well as using white pastry flour for the rest. I got the crust too thin on the Emile Henry 14x4 ¾-inch ceramic long tart pan, so it stuck on the bottom during the par-baking, and I ended up sticking the wet dough back and putting the dish back in the oven for another 5 minutes. I also sprinkled panko across the bottom to try to absorb any excess moisture from the filling. For the quiche itself, I used a gold spaghetti squash I bought in October at the farmer’s market that had developed a spot and needed to be used. I replace the 1 cup half and half and 1/3 cup heavy cream with 1 1/3 cup low-fat evaporated milk. For the topping cheese, I used some pre-grated low-fat mozzarella. As always, it comes out delicious, which makes it worth the four hours from start (making the crust and baking the spaghetti squash) to finish (pulling it out of the oven).
Haedrich’s recipe calls for a 9 1/2x1-inch tart pan, but I do not have that size. The rectangular Emile Henry tart dish is 2 inches deep, and I think the higher sides prevent disaster, although I still bake the tart on a rimmed baking sheet. I have my eye on a deep, round Emile Henry ceramic tart pan at Williams-Sonoma, but the company has gotten chintzy on free shipping offers, so I am undecided about buying it. The company wants people to buy a $90 yearly membership to receive free shipping, but I only buy from them perhaps once a year.
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