Quiche is great for any meal − breakfast with sliced fruit, lunch with a light salad, or dinner with a glass of white wine. Make it even easier by using a store-bought crust. Remove the crust from the freezer and thaw for about 10 minutes, prick all over with a fork, and bake at 400-degrees for about 10-15 minutes, remove from oven and set aside. Turn down the oven heat to 325-degrees while you prepare the filling.
Today I used broccoli and cheddar, but use any combination of vegetable and/or meat and cheese that you have on hand for the filling. The method is the same − pre-bake the crust; sauté the filling ingredients in a tablespoon or two of butter until soft, then set aside; grate the cheese; and whisk the custard ingredients in a separate bowl. Place your cooked filling on the bottom of the pie crust, sprinkle with the cheese, pour the custard on top, and bake!
Recipe
FILLING IDEAS
★ 1/2 c. thinly sliced shallots or onion, 1 cup chopped broccoli, 1 c. grated cheddar cheese (pictured above)
★ 1/2 c. thinly sliced shallots, (1) 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, defrost and squeeze out all the water, 1 c. grated gruyere cheese. For this quiche I sautéed the shallots separately and put on the bottom of the pie crust, sprinkled the cheese, spread the spinach on top of the cheese and pour the custard on top.
★ 6-8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled, 2 chopped green onions, 1 c. grated gruyere or swiss cheese
★ 1-1/2 lbs. asparagus cut into 1" pieces and cooked, toss with 1 c. freshly grated parmesan
★ Onion Quiche: Peel and slice 4-5 medium onions, saute in 1/4 c. butter until soft and brown and all the moisture has cooked away, and season highly with salt, pepper and paprika. I don't usually add cheese to this one. Makes a good appetizer if you bake in a square pan and cut into bite-size square pieces.
CUSTARD
1 c. heavy cream
4 eggs
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Beat the ingredients with a whisk for about 15-20 seconds. Pour over filling ingredients.
Put the quiche on a baking sheet and bake at 325-degrees for about 50 minutes.