You say “potato.” I say, “pie crust.” It sounds odd, but hear me out.

There are hashed, smashed and mashed methods of turning Maine’s top agricultural crop into a vehicle for delivering savory pies, tarts, and quiches to the table. 

The hashed is arguably the easiest. Place 2 cups of grated frozen or fresh russet potatoes such as Caribou Russets or Russet Burbanks and ½ cup finely minced onions on a clean towel, wrap it up in a bundle, and squeeze as much water out of the bundle as possible. Mix the resulting mass in a bowl with 2 eggs, ¼ cup of grated Parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper. 

Coat an 8-inch pie plate with oil. Dump the potato mixture into the plate and press it to both cover the bottom and as high up the sides as you can go. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the crust and fill it with dried beans or pie weights. Slide it into a preheated 400-degree oven. Bake for 20 minutes, carefully lift the parchment and weights off, and bake the crust about 10 minutes more, until it looks dry in the center and the edges are nicely browned. 

I use this type of potato crust to stretch the last bit of stew-ey leftovers into a hearty main dish. I can tell you that it is particularly good vessel for Indian chicken curries, mushroom ragout and beef and bean chili. 

The smashed method involves first boiling whole small- to medium-sized waxy potatoes like Purple Adirondacks, Keuka Golds or Dark Red Norlands in salted water until you can poke them with a fork. This will take longer than you think it might. You’re looking for the fork to make it all the way to the middle of the potato. It’s OK if the skin cracks on these a bit while they’re boiling.  

You smash the cooked potatoes into small, individual tart pans to form a crust. This is easiest to do when the potatoes are piping hot and the implement you’re using to smash them is round, flat and just a wee bit smaller than the circumference of the tart pan. Mason jars are a good tool for this job.    

You brush the imperfectly smashed tart crusts with olive oil and stick them under the broiler for 3-4 minutes to crisp up the edges. Then top then with a slice of goat cheese that fits snugly into the center of the crust and some sauteed mushrooms. Go right ahead and serve them warm. Or refrigerate the tarts until you need them. To serve later, reheat them in a 350-degree oven until they are warm through and plate them with lightly dressed greens.

The mashed potato crust can be made from freshly boiled potatoes with ingredients that match the filling of the quiche, as in the recipe for Mushroom and Onion Quiche. Or it can simply be made with leftover mashed potatoes. But be forewarned, you do need a generous 2 cups to make a crust in a 9-inch pie plate so plan for leftovers accordingly.

Like the hashbrown crust, a mashed potato crust holds it shape best if you bake blind, using baking beans or pie weights on top of parchment paper for the first 20 minutes it spends in a 350-degree oven. Then wait another 10-15 minutes so the crust can solidify enough to hold your favorite quiche ingredients. The crust will likely still be soft at this point, but it will have developed a crust strong enough to carry the quiche filling load. 

Mushroom and Onion Quiche with Mashed Potato and Goat Cheese Crust

This recipe follows standard quiche filling ratios of egg to half-and-half and vegetables. The twist, though, is that the mashed potatoes that comprise the bulk of the crust have been flavored with goat cheese, olive oil and thyme. giving you double the flavor.

Serves 6-8

4 medium-sized mixed russet and waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

Kosher salt

1/3 cup goat cheese

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided use, plus more for oiling the pie plate

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 cups chopped mushrooms

1 cup chopped onions

5 eggs

½ teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup half-and-half

To make the crust, place the potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Cover the potatoes with cold water. Place the pan on high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer the potatoes until fork tender, 6-8 minutes.  Drain the potatoes and put them back into the pan to let off some steam for 2-3 minutes. Mash the potatoes so that there are no lumps. Add the goat cheese, 3 tablespoons olive oil and thyme leaves and stir well to combine.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and onions and toss to coat them in oil. Sauté the vegetables until they soften and start to get caramelized, about 8 minutes. 

Lightly coat a deep, 9-inch pie plate with olive oil. Dump the mashed potato mixture into the pie plate and press it to cover the bottom and as high up the sides as you can go. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the crust and fill it with dried beans or pie weights. Slide it into the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes, carefully lift the parchment and weights off, and return to the oven to bake until the crust looks dry in the center and the edges are nicely browned, about 10 minutes more. 

While the crust is baking, crack the eggs into a medium bowl and whisk them well with black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk in the half and half. Spread the sauteed mushrooms and onions around the base of the crust and gently pour the egg mixture over them.

Turn the oven heat up to 375 degrees F. Slide the quiche into the oven.  Bake until the custard is set throughout and the top is golden brown, 35-40 minutes.

Let the quiche rest for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it.