How to Make the Best Summer Quiche

Summer quiche is packed with flavor from peak-of-season zucchini and delicious bacon. This beautiful recipe uses a sourdough pie crust and is topped with squash blossoms to make the perfect summertime treat.

My best friend, Kristi, has a beautiful, lush garden full of sunflowers, peas, potatoes, and zucchini. She likes to give me what she’s grown, and I’ll turn around and give her something delicious that I made with it. It’s the perfect balance. She blesses me. I bless her.

Seeing the flourishing zucchini flowers decorating her backyard with little pops of yellow inspired this unique yet simple summer quiche. If you don’t have access to a garden with zucchini growing in it, squash blossoms can often be found at your local farmer’s market. But don’t let it keep you from making this if you can’t find the flowers.

Hold on. You’re saying the flowers from the zucchini plant are edible?

They sure are! There are tons of ways to prepare and eat them, and cultures from around the world make use of the delicate, yellow petals that add a subtle floral flavor to any dish. Italians love to stuff the blossoms with mozzarella and deep fry them. Mexicans will put them in a quesadilla with Oaxaca cheese. And I’m sure that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here are 8 different ways to use squash blossoms in your cooking!

They’re also a great source of vitamins and minerals! They are high in calcium and iron and especially high in vitamins C and A. So not only do squash blossoms add flavor and a wow factor to the dish, but they’re super healthy too!

Why you’ll love this Summer quiche

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Supplies you may need

A quiche is traditionally served as a pie, so a pie plate is a necessity. I also used a rolling pin when I was preparing my dough. The pie crust needs to be parbaked, and that requires something to weigh it down while it’s in the oven. I used pie weights in parchment paper, but I’ve also used dried beans in the past.

My preferred method of cooking bacon for this is in the oven, so in that case you’ll also need a sheet pan. And I grated my own cheese for this quiche which requires a cheese grater.

• Pie plate
• Rolling pin
• Pie weights
• Parchment paper
• Sheet pan
• Cheese grater

Making this Summer Quiche

There are few steps to this process, but the best part is it can be broken up to fit any schedule. I have made the pie crust one day, made the bacon another, and made the quiche on a completely different day. I’m a big fan of breaking up different parts of preparation for a meal to make it as easy as possible.

Cook the bacon

This recipe calls for crumbled bacon, so the very first thing I like to do is get that cooked and ready to use. My preferred method is baking it in the oven. I like to line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lay the bacon right on top. Every oven is a little different, but I find the best results for crumbly bacon is putting the pan into a cold oven, set it to 400F/200C, and let it come to temperature with the bacon already in there. From start to finish, I find that it takes just around 30 minutes including the preheating time. I like to just throw the bacon in the oven, set the temperature, and set the timer all at the same time. After a half hour it comes out looking perfect.

Roll and shape the pie crust

Next let’s shape the pie crust. I used my sourdough pie crust recipe, but a store bought one works just fine here too. I like to dust my work surface as well as the dough itself to keep it from sticking to the pin when I roll it out.

I know I’m done rolling out the dough when the pie crust is a little wider than the edges of the pie plate. Sometimes I even hold the pie plate over the rolled out dough just to make sure it’s wide enough all around.

A trick I like to use to get the pie crust off the counter and onto the pie plate is to roll it up onto the rolling pin. If the dough is a bit sticky, using a bench scraper helps make sure it stays intact.

Then I will slowly and carefully unfurl the pie dough onto the plate.

Shaping the crust is my favorite part. I will gently press the dough down into the plate so the bottom is shaped against the pan, and then I move onto the outside. I like to fold any excess hanging dough under itself, and, using my fingers, I’ll go around the circumference and press the edges. This doesn’t have to be meticulous or fancy. However it looks and whatever way you use, just do your best to crimp the edges.

Blind bake the crust

For this recipe, the pie crust really needs to be parbaked. To do this, line the dough with parchment paper then fill with the pie weights (dried beans will work here too). Bake like this for 15 minutes.

Prepare the Summer quiche filling

After 15 minutes at 375F/190C, pull the crust out of the oven and remove the parchment paper and pie weights. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork to prevent it from puffing up. This is called docking the pie crust. After docking, put it back in the oven (this time just the crust and without the pie weights) for another 7 minutes.

While the crust blind bakes, I like to prepare my filling. The zucchini and the cheese need to be shredded, the onion needs to be minced, and the milk and heavy cream need to be poured and measured. After everything is thoroughly mixed and poured into the parbaked crust, the quiche goes back into the oven at 350F/180C for 25 minutes.

Garnish and finish baking

After 25 minutes, I like to add the garnishes of the squash blossoms and a little extra shredded cheese. Before adding the flowers, make sure to remove the green spike-looking pieces toward the bottom. I believe these are called the sepals, and removing them is optional. I personally think the texture in the finished product is better without them.

After another 25 minutes in the oven, pull out the quiche, garnish with some green onion, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before digging in.

Did you make this recipe? Comment below and let me know your thoughts and if you tried any other variations!

Haven’t tried it out yet? Pin the image below to save for later.