At this time of year, many people are looking for satisfying meatless meals. Perhaps your family is observing Lent. Perhaps you are simply trying to eat healthier or in a more environmentally-friendly manner as part of your New Year’s resolutions.

My family are not vegetarians but we do eat several meatless meals a week in part for health reasons, in part for economic reasons, but mostly because I often forget to defrost meat. Oops!

One of my favorite meatless meals is quiche. Quiche, of course, is a classic dish to serve at lunch or brunch. But I think quiches can be hearty and satisfying one-dish dinners as well.

Quiches can be a lot of work. I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you. But, their saving grace is that much of this work can be done ahead of time and the work can be broken up into stages. Today, I am going to give you a recipe that makes not one but two vegetarian quiches. These quiches are stuffed with sweet, roasted butternut squash, spicy sautéed kale and nutty, smooth grated cheese.

Making two of these quiches is not much more work than making one. But the result is two delicious vegetarian meals. Eat one tonight and freeze one — yes, you can freeze a whole quiche — for another day.

Or, keep one for your family and give the other to a friend or neighbor who is in need of some help due to illness, grief or, more happily, a new baby. When making a meal for someone in need, I almost always opt to make something vegetarian, especially if I do not know their dietary restrictions. Quiche is a great choice  when bringing a meal to someone because it works for any meal of the day and will last for days in the fridge.

Why butternut squash and kale for the filling? Well, in winter, we need to find inspiration where we can. Both winter squash and dark leafy greens like kale are cold-weather crops. Also, I think the sweetness of the squash is a nice foil for the bitterness of the kale. Feel free to substitute other squashes or other greens, like Swiss chard, if you prefer.

This recipe begins by making a batch of pie dough for the two quiche crusts. Again, this step can be days in advance and the dough can remain in the refrigerator, well-wrapped, until needed. (Pie dough can even be frozen, so make it weeks in advance and freeze it if that is your preference.)

Other stages involve blind baking the quiche crusts, roasting the squash and sautéing the kale. All of these steps can be done in advance as well, and many can happen at the same time. For example, you can blind bake the crusts and roast the squash at the same time – both need a 400-degree oven and take about 20 minutes. While that is happening, you can sauté the kale on top of the stove.

All that is left at that point is to assemble your quiches, add grated cheese and your custard filling. I selected nutty, smooth Alpine Cheddar from the Cabot Creamery Legacy Collection to complement the sweet roasted squash and slightly bitter greens. If you cannot find that cheese, try a Parmesan, Swiss or Gruyère.

This hearty, delicious quiche was a soothing, satisfying dinner on a cold night. And knowing that there is a second one wrapped in plastic in my freezer, ready to be reheated on a busy night in the future gives me a tremendous sense of peace.

By the way, curious about how to freeze a quiche? I recommend baking it first and then allowing the quiche to cool. At that point, wrap it well in plastic and foil and place in the freezer. (Label it and don’t put something heavy on top of it that could damage the quiche!)

Do not thaw before reheating. Remove plastic wrap and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 25 minutes, or until heated through.

Did I just give you a recipe for two dinners? Why, yes. Yes, I did.

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Butternut Squash & Kale Quiche

Ingredients

Crust
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour (I like King Arthur brand)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 7 ounces cold, unsalted European-style butter, cut into cubes
• ½ cup ice water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or red wine vinegar
Filling
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into pieces
• 1 bunch kale, washed, stems removed and cut into ribbons
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 6 oz nutty, firm cheese such as Cabot Creamery Alpine Cheddar, grated
• 2 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add the chilled butter to the dry ingredients and process just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Combine the lemon juice or vinegar and ice water and add six tablespoons of the mixture to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse several times until combined. Pinch a bit of the dough and if it holds together, you do not need to add more liquid. If it is still dry, add more of the liquid, one-half tablespoon at a time.
4. Remove the dough to a bowl or a well-floured board.
5. Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into two and wrap each half well in plastic wrap.
6. Place the dough in the refrigerator to relax for at least a half-hour but preferably overnight.
7. Remove the balls of dough from the refrigerator. If your dough was chilled for longer than thirty minutes, allow to soften for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it out.
8. Prior to rolling out the dough, strike it with your rolling pin to flatten. This will soften it further.
9. Preheat the oven to 400 and grease the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch pie plates.
10. Liberally dust a pastry board or mat and your rolling pin with flour.
11. Roll the dough out, rotating it and turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until it is the size of your pie plate and between ¼ and ⅛ of an inch thick.
12. Carefully center the pie dough in the plate and press it into the bottom and sides. Trim or fold over any excess dough around the edges.
13. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
14. Chill the dough in the pie plates for 30 minutes if possible, and dock it several times with the tines of a fork to prevent bubbling.
15. Blind bake the crusts by covering them with parchment paper and filling with pie weights or raw rice. Bake for twenty minutes, then remove the parchment paper and pie weights and bake an additional five minutes.
16. Prepare the filling: toss the cubes of squash with 2 TB olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a lined baking sheet.
17. Roast in the 400-degree oven for 20 minutes until tender. When the squash is cooked, turn the oven down to 325.
18. Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a large, deep skillet.
19. Add the kale and the red pepper flakes and sauté until tender and wilted, about five minutes.
20. Divide the cooked squash and kale between the two crusts.
21. Top each with grated cheese.
22. In a medium bowl, combine the milk and eggs and beat until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
23. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the two pie plates.
24. Bake at 325 for 45-55 minutes until firm. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.
25. To save one of the quiches for another day, wrap well in plastic and foil and freeze.
26. To reheat, do not thaw. Unwrap and warm in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

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