Butternut squash, maple bacon, fig & goat cheese quiche with jalapeño

+ a homemade flaky buttery pie crust

Afternoon, folks. Today I’m sharing a gloriously decadent quiche with maple bacon, figs, goat’s cheese, roasted butternut squash, and just a flicker of jalapeño heat. Outside my window, the trees are surrendering — slowly, gloriously — to autumn. And with this transition comes the kind of cooking that invites you to linger as the mornings grow darker and the days gently draw in.

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I first encountered quiche in the '90s at a party being held in the local village hall. There, in the centre of the room, was a long buffet table groaning under the weight of party fare: a whole fluorescent pink gammon ham; a foil-wrapped grapefruit bristling with cocktail sticks stacked with cubes of pineapple and cheese; towers of insipid mini sausage rolls; egg-and-cress triangles, the bread already curling at the edges; bowls of hoola hoops, and a random pile of jammy dodgers (British 90’s kids.. iykyk).

Sitting askew on a red paper plate was a quiche: pale, limp, straight from a supermarket and still in its foil tray. The pastry was the color of underbaked dough and chewed like damp cardboard. The filling was flavorless - soft, greyish scraps of bacon drifting in a bland, eggy ocean. One bite was enough. I quietly pushed the plate away and swore off that sorry, monstrosity of a dish — for good.

Until, one day, my mother made a quiche. The pastry was golden and buttery, flaking at the edges like the corner of a good croissant. The bacon — thick, salty fatty lardons — held just enough crisp to cut through the richness. She added more cheese than was strictly necessary, and it melted into the custard, which set softly, still trembling faintly as it reached the table.

From that moment on, I understood: quiche wasn’t sad or soggy. It was generous and luxurious — a thing to be longed for. Which is why, on a damp, heavy-skied afternoon, the aroma of woodsmoke and wet leaves drifting through the air, I found myself making this recipe.

The dish begins with fried maple-glazed bacon, and roasted butternut squash caramelized at the edges, then folded together with goat’s cheese - creamy, sharp, and just the right amount of tang. Jalapeños add a flicker of heat whilst jammy figs introduce a hit of sweetness. Everything is cradled in a custard set in homemade (yet easy to accomplish) pastry that flakes at the gentlest touch.

This is not a half-hearted offering at the end of a retro buffet table, certainly not! Smoky, sweet, spiced - this is a quiche with gusto!

Stacked with goodness