The Classic Ginataang Sitaw and Kalabasa is made into a Quiche. The savory coconut custard is laced with ginger, garlic and fish sauce. One look will make you think brunch, but one bite will make you think of home.

The Bahay Kubo Cooking Series

Oh hey! It's back by popular demand. Food shopping got a little crazy when I launched The Bahay Kubo earlier this year. But really can you believe it's almost freaking August? So here is the deal to why it was paused. We don't shop in person at grocery stores even up to now. All our food gets delivered, so it was hard to find a place to find native Filipino vegetables. BUT!!!! I just found out that my local Filipino Grocery Store Seafood City now delivers so it's back!! I still had to skip Sigarilyas, hey it's okay.I will come back to it! Right now we are doing a combo of two veggies. Ginataang Sitaw and Kalabasa. To get a refresh of the song Bahay Kubo click here.

What is Sitaw?

Or long bean known in English. It has a very different texture from your usual green beans.

Sitaw I find has a more meaty texture when cooked and it really fills you up with all that fiber. When thinking of recipes for this series from the beginning I knew I wanted to do a savory tart with Sitaw. It's a departure from more traditional ways it is prepared in Filipino cuisine. Mostly it's cooked adobo style on it's own or added to Kare Kare and Pinakbet.

Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa in a Quiche!

I wanted the flavors to still be familiar so I took the classic paring of Ginataang Sitaw and Kalabasa but poured it in a quiche.

Yes it is a wonderful idea and you now have to make it. So let's get to making this recipe for the continuation of the Bahay Kubo Cooking Series.

What Ingredients Do You Need?

For the filling this is what you need:

250g Long Beans - Ends Cut Off
250g Kalabasa Cut into Wedges and Steamed and cooled
1 14oz Can of Full Fat Coconut Milk
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons Arrowroot Powder
4-5 Cloves of Diced Garlic
1 Inch of Ginger Grated
1 Teaspoon Patis (Fish Sauce)
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Chopped Chives
1 Packet of Frozen Puff Pastry

Is Puff Pastry Ok Tho?

I know it's summer time, so I'm not going to make you make it from scratch. You can buy it frozen. Here are some tips to handle it so it doesn't turn out a hot mess in a hot kitchen.

The night before you make this quiche take the Puff Pastry out of the freezer and pop it the refrigerator. Keep it in the box until you are ready to unroll.

Prepare all the ingredients before you take it out of the fridge. As in cut the edges of the sitaw and cut them to fit your baking dish. BTW - I used a 9x13 deep dish.
Pre-heat the oven to 400C so that the oven is nice and hot when you pop it in. It needs the heat to get that nice flaky rise.

Prep the Sitaw and Kalabasa

As I mentioned above everything needs to be prepped and ready before you take out puff pastry. With the Sitaw I like leaving them as long as the baking dish for dramatic effect so just cut off the tips and measure them out to fit the baking dish.

To prep the Kalabasa cut into thin wedges and steam them over a steamer for 15 minutes with the skin on. They are ready when you can put a knife all the way through. Leave to cool completely and then take the skin off. You can do this step the night before as well.

How Do You Make the Ginataang Custard?

You will be pouring this custard into raw dough, so it needs to be on the cooler side. At least not warm and at the most at room temperature. This prevents a soggy bottom!

Mix together the coconut milk and eggs. Then add in the arrowroot powder and mix well again. Throw in the garlic, ginger, patis, onion powder, black pepper and chives.

Mix well and put in the refrigerator while you roll out the puff puff pastry.

Put the Ginitaag Sitaw and Kalabasa Quiche Together

Let's do a prep check before we get to this last step. I want this to be a first time success for you! So did you ----

Defrost your puff pastry overnight?
Did you prep your veggies? If not see above.
Did you mix the custard and it's cooling in the fridge as you read this?
Has your oven been on and heated up to 400C?

If you said yes to all you may continue. If you said no to any of the above. STOP and go back.

Okay if you are good line a deep 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper. Then take out the puff pastry box from the refrigerator. Open the puff pastry package nice and slow. Make sure you have lightly dusted your hands with flour before touching the dough and work fast but carefully. There is no need to roll for this recipe. The pastry is folded over like a book so look for the opening. You need to do that twice to get it all open. Just lay it out carefully over the parchment paper and making sure there is a boarder around the sides at least half an inch up to hold the custard.

Move everything as close as possible to your oven. Take the custard out of the fridge. Once the puff pastry is in the dish lay out the sitaw and kalabasa over the pastry.

First mix, then pour in the custard.

Put it in the oven right away and bake for 20-30 minutes. Mine baked at 30 minutes. When you take it out of the oven the custard should be set with no jiggles and the pastry nice and brown and puffy.

How to Serve Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa in a Quiche

Leave to cool for 10 minutes for everything to settle down. Garnish with some edible flowers and it's so freaking pretty!!!

Looks are totally deceiving here. I cut the quiche into 8 squares and all you need to eat with it is a side salad. With the veggies being so meaty and with the savory garlicky custard, it makes for a satisfying plant forward meal.

That flaky crust tho. I can't. It's so good.

All The Bahay Kubo Cooking Series Recipes

Lumpia with Singkamas Wrapers - The Bahay Kubo Cooking Series

Ensaladang Talong Dip (Eggplant Salad Dip) Recipe

Adobong Mani (Roasted Peanuts) Recipe

Ginataang Sitaw and Kalabasa Quiche - Bahay Kubo Cooking Series