Baked Parsnip Quiche

I live in the Netherlands, so on those wonderful days when the sky is a clear blue and the sun is shinning bright. I cant help but do my best to seize the day. In a funny way the weather also affects the foods I want to eat. I recently tried parsnips for the first time. Its strange that I have gone so long without ever actually really trying this root vegetable. I knew that it existed but I would always walk past it in the grocery store.

This time I saw it in the store and decided to buy one and try it out. I didn't even research on how to cook it. I figured that it looked like a carrot-potato-type-of-vegetable, so I got in there sliced it up and roasted it to make parsnip "fries". When they were still piping hot, I took a bite out of one of them. It was instant love! my taste buds went crazy from how good it was. I ate them all.

I had to go back to the grocery store to buy so more. This amazing vegetable had to be explore. So naturally I experimented a little more with cooking with parsnips.

My first experiment was with quiche. I have a secret love for crust-less quiche. Largely because it is simple to make and mostly because it tastes amazing. It tasted fabulous. The recipe is below.

Serves 2 (or 1 extremely hungry person)- but really its for two

• 1 medium parsnip
• 1 large carrot
• 2 eggs
• 100 grams Quark
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 medium onion sliced
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Spices for flavoring
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup grated cheese of choice (optional) - and by optional I mean, you should.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven at 175C/350F.
2. Cut parsnip and carrot into potato fry wedges. 
3. Mix together 1 tbsp olive oil and spices of choice.  
4. Roast in the preheated oven on a baking sheet for 30 minutes  or until golden brown. Half way through the baking time toss the vegetables around. to get them evenly cooked.
5. Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until softened and fragrant. Then add the spinach and cook until wilted. Place to aside to cool slightly.
6. Mix the eggs, cheese and quark thoroughly in a large bowl. Then fold in the the cooked spinach. 
7. Line the roasted parsnips and carrots on the base of a baking dish. 
8. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish and spread it over the roasted vegetables evenly.
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve this with a tasty salad or soup.

Enjoy!

Let me know how you like this recipe when you try it.

Xx

Rati

p.s. Next week I'll be posting up a recipe of a more indulgent quiche... Spinach-Mushroom-Goat-Cheese Quiche. Mmmmh :)!!!