Swiss Chard and Bacon Quiche

I recently made this recipe a second time. The first time we got swiss chard in our farm box, I didn't know what to do. But I got the idea in my head to make a quiche. Sure enough, when I looked in the Flavor Bible, chard goes well with egg dishes. And bacon, shallots, oregano, cheese, mushrooms, and garlic. And polenta. Not wanting to deal with making a traditional crust on a weeknight, I found and modified an online polenta crust recipe. I decided to put the oregano in the crust rather than the quiche, which gave it a wonderful fragrant smell while it was cooking.

I forgot to add the cheese when making it the second time (which is when the picture above was taken), but it was so delicious, I didn't even realize until later that night. The first time I made this quiche, Thom liked it so much, he had thirds. I knew then I'd be making it again.

Note: The second time I made this, I didn't read my directions accurately. I ended up cooking the quiche at 450 for 30 minutes. It came out fine. In fact, it was more set up than the first one I made.

Polenta Crust:
1 ½ cup uncooked polenta
1 ½ cold water
2 cups boiling water
Salt
¼ c. fresh oregano, chopped
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix polenta, cold water, salt and oregano. Add to boiling water in sauce pan. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Polenta mixture will thicken.

Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Spread into oiled pie pan with rubber spatula. Bake 30 minutes.

Quiche:

4 eggs
Scant 1 cup milk
Scant 1 cup heavy cream
5-6 stalks/leaves of swiss chard, chopped
5 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, chopped
¾ c. Quattro Formaggio (from Trader Joe’s) or other shredded cheese combination
1 Tbsp olive oil (optional)
3-4 slices of uncured applewood smoked bacon
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°.

Beat together eggs, milk, cream, salt and pepper. Stir in about ½ c. of the shredded cheese and set mixture aside.

Cook bacon in sauté pan until crispy. Set on paper towels. Drain off all but about 2 Tbsp of bacon grease. Add mushrooms and shallot to pan and sauté 1 minute. Add olive oil if needed, then add swiss chard and garlic. Sauté until chard is softened.

Add sautéed veggies to egg mixture then crumble the bacon and add it to the mixture as well. Stir to mix ingredients, and then pour into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350° and cook another 25-30 minutes, until quiche is set. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.