You can see  how flaky this crust is…it’s divine.

Are you a spice girl? Or spice dude? I am. I love spice, and I love green chili.  I was fortunate to live in New Mexico for 4 months-years ago- during the [Hot Damn!] part of Summer. The silver lining of triple digit summer heat? being able to buy fresh roasted Hatch green chili’s.  The goal of the chili’s destiny is to be roasted- blackened (literally) to blister the skin to impart flavor and to ensure that you can also peel the skin off.

If you live in New Mexico or the Southwest during chili harvest time you will know- because you will start smelling the aroma of roasting chili’s wafting in the air around town. Dare I say it- it’s kind of a sexy thing.  It’s like food porn, but for the nose. In New Mexico especially,  during harvest time- you’ll see large,  horizontal spinning roasters/vessels right in the parking lots of major markets that do the roasting for you. Imagine some dude in a cowboy hat in faded well fitting Wranglers, hand cranking the drum roaster of vibrant green chili’s while they tumble over the hot flame. Yeah…double sexy.

It’s not unheard of to buy several plastic bags of the roasted & peeled chili’s and squirrel them away in the freezer. You’re gonna need several bags, because after one bite, you will become a green chili addict. You can of course roast & peel them yourself-roast them right over an open flame on a gas stove, under the broiler, or on the grill.  The smell of a fresh roasted Hatch green chili  is something you never forget; intoxicating and earthy. New Mexican’s put roasted green chili’s in anything, and everything-and I DO MEAN everything. It’s a beautiful thing. A green chili cheeseburger is something you NEED to try at least once in your lifetime, but today- I’m making a green chili and cheese quiche.

Sitting down to eat it with a sexy, Wrangler wearing cowboy- optional.

 

This chili in the picture was not quite dark green as the others, but you’ll see varying colors of green chili’s (they’re all good)

 

 

 

Green Chili & Cheese Quiche

Quiche Filling

1  1/4 Cup Heavy cream

1/4  Cup  Milk

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 Cup grated “Mexican 4 Cheese Blend”

5-6  large fresh roasted & peeled green chili’s, diced fine (see how to below for roasting and peeling)

 

To Assemble Quiche:

Preheat oven to 375° F. Prepare and blind bake the crust as per instructions below. Whisk together the cream, milk, eggs, salt and pepper. Fold in the cheese and diced chili’s. Pour into the baked and slightly cooled crust(s) and bake at 375° F until center of filling is set; about 18 minutes for the minis and about 25-30 minutes for a 9-10 inch quiche. Note: depending on how deep your tart or quiche pan is, you will have some filling leftover. I used a 10 inch pan and had a bit leftover to make a few extra mini’s. Give the extra’s away as a gift or wrap the baked and cooled quiche well in plastic wrap and freeze.

 

How to roast and peel green chili’s:

Wash and pat dry the chili’s. Place chili’s over a hot grill, medium flame, or broiler until they become blistered and totally blackened, turning with tongs frequently while roasting. Once they are totally black, place in a heat proof deep bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes to allow them to steam. Remove plastic wrap and carefully peel of the blackened skin. Discard stems and seeds. It’s helpful to use a damp paper towel (if too hot) as to not burn your fingers while peeling. Note: I DO NOT RUN THEM UNDER WATER- using water (IMO) washes away the flavor, so I just use the damp paper towel to remove the skins. Once cooled, dice the chili’s and set aside. You can do this a day or two ahead also and store in the fridge covered in plastic wrap to save time.

 

Easy Flaky Cream Cheese Crust

yield: enough for 2 nine-10 inch crusts or several mini quiche. (leftover dough freezes well)

 

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp, cut into cubes

2 sticks (1 Cup) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and kept cold

2 Cups flour

1 tsp. salt

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, place the flour and salt and pulse a few times to combine. Add the cold butter and room temp cream cheese cubes and pulse until mixture just comes together. Gather dough together and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to let rest. To roll out crust, sprinkle flour onto bench, roll out crust and place in tart pan. Note: if making mini quiche I simply flatten a piece of dough and press it into the tart pan. Chill the crust again for 30 minutes or freeze for 15 minutes. Blind bake crust at 375° F until lightly golden.