Quiche à la Raclette (d'Elizabeth)

Bonjour!  It's that time of year again!  The time of year for RACLETTE!  Raclette is a lovely meal and if you have never had it (or heard of it), it is like Heaven on a plate.  Raclette is a meal from the Savoie region of France and Switzerland.  It is made from Raclette cheese melted in a special machine called a "four à raclette"  and poured over ham and potatoes.  It is SO yummy and the cheese has been VERY difficult to find here in Iowa...until now.  I am really excited because the Hy-Vee near my house has a new specialty cheese case which  has, yes, that's right- RACLETTE among a variety of other great international cheeses.  This past weekend my very good friend Lisa came to visit me.  Lisa is one of my oldest friends and we know each other from when we worked together at the French Immersion School in Seattle.  Lisa lives in Madison now and drives down to see me on occasion.  Anyway, she came down this past weekend and we, along with a couple of other friends, drank wine and made Raclette.  It was SO much fun!
The next day, Sunday, I was having my friend Jean-Louis and his kids over for lunch and had leftover ingredients from the Raclette.  I decided to improvise and make a Raclette quiche.  It turned out REALLY yummy and was a total hit!  I decided to make it again for my students today and they ate almost the entire quiche!  Yum!  Serve this with a beautiful spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette and you have a perfect lunch or light dinner!


Quiche à la Raclette (d'Elizabeth)

• 1 store bought refrigerated pie crust or homemade pie crust
• 1/3 cup Raclette cheese, cut in small cubes or grated
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1/4 lb Black Forest Ham, diced
• 1/2 cup leftover boiled new potatoes (such as red or yukon gold), skin left on, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup crème fraîche (or you can use sour cream)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 6 extra large eggs
• 1 tbsp. herbes de provence
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a pie plate or quiche dish generously with cooking spray.  Unroll the pie crust and press it into the pie plate.  Place the cheese, onion, ham, and potatoes in the pie plate and sprinkle with hermes de provence and salt and pepper and mix lightly with your hands to distribute the ingredients evenly.  In a medium sized bowl, beat the eggs, crème fraîche, heavy cream, nutmeg, and salt and pepper for taste.  Pour the egg mixture over the mixture in the pie crust, shake very slightly to distribute the egg mixture.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until set in the middle.  Let stand another 10 minutes before cutting.  

Until next time, Happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!