I really enjoy having friends over for casual brunches during the holidays. A dinner party can be intimidating and/or a lot of work, but it’s still just so nice to have your home filled with the people this time of year. I love when the Christmas tree is lit with morning sun streaming in and a table full of friends laughing over coffee at the table.
This rich sausage quiche is pretty wonderful, if I do say so myself. Browned turkey sausage, caramelized onions and gruyere are all nestled into a fluffy egg filling on a golden hashbrown potato crust. Perfect for holiday brunching!
It was inspired by one my cousin’s lovely wife Lindsay made once for lunch (hi Linds!) years ago – her shredded potato crust was a total revelation to me. I’ve made variations of it many times, and I’m always asked for the recipe.
Potato-Crusted Sausage Quiche with Caramelized onions and Gruyere
Ingredients
- 5 Grimm’s Turkey Farmer Sausage rounds (8 oz/225 g)
- 6 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 2 medium onions, halved then thinly sliced crosswise (yields 2 ½ cups)
- 1 ½ cups grated yellow potato, packed (about 2 medium)
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 8 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ? tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ? tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ oz/70g) gruyere
- 1 green onion (dark green part only), minced
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 450ºF with a baking stone (or baking sheet) placed on the lower rack. Slice sausage rounds into strips, and then crosswise into 1/2″ pieces (you can stack and cut a few at a time).
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 10” oven-proof cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned on both sides, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Add another tbsp of oil to skillet and reduce heat to medium-low; add onions and cook until soft and deeply golden, about 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare crust and filling. Place grated potatoes in the centre of a clean kitchen towel, and gather the towel around it to forcefully wring out the excess moisture. Open towel and sprinkle potatoes with 1/4 tsp salt; toss to season evenly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Transfer caramelized onions to plate with sausage, and carefully wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Add 2 tbsp oil and increase heat to medium-high. When shimmering hot, add grated potatoes and press firmly into the skillet so that the entire bottom is evenly covered. Cook until golden brown on underside, about 4 minutes (use a spatula to gently lift it to check). Carefully flip the hashbrown onto a plate (I put a plate upside-down on top of the hashbrown in the skillet and quickly flip the whole thing over, holding the plate firmly to the skillet with oven mitts). Add another 2 tbsp oil to the pan, and gently slide the hashbrown back in to brown the other side, another 4 minutes or so. (It doesn’t tear easily, but if it does, don’t fret – just piece it back together and press into the pan – no one will ever know.)
- Remove skillet from heat and sprinkle hashbrown with the cheese, then the sausage and caramelized onion. Pour the egg mixture over top, and sprinkle with green onion. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF and bake on baking stone or sheet for about 20 minutes, until filling is set. Serve warm or room temperature.
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