I actually can’t believe I have had my little city-country food blog for almost a year and have never blogged about QUICHE! We eat quiche around here all the time. It is much easier than it seems and is a great way to use surplus veggies and eggs. All quiches are fundamentally the same: pastry shell of some kind + savory custard (eggs and milk) + cheese + filling + seasoning. The cheese, filling, and seasonings change depending on the type of flavors you want – the combinations are limitless!
The gold standard is, of course, Quiche Lorraine with onion, bacon, and Swiss cheese. Mmmm… Another favorite around here is a smoked salmon with smoked Gouda and chopped dill. This one is a variation on our winter standard, spinach and mushrooms with feta. This spring veggie quiche usually gets made when I have too many eggs, milk that’s getting a little old, and some veggies I need to get rid of 🙂
- INGREDIENTS
- 1 par-baked pie crust (perfect pie crust recipe)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
8-10 mushrooms, sliced thin1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1-2 zucchini, sliced thin
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- pinch of all-purpose flour
- 5-6 eggs
- 3 cups whole milk
- salt and (white) pepper, to taste
The first thing you gotta do is organize a pre-baked pie crust. You can get a frozen one at the store. You can make one yourself. Bob’s Red Mill makes an acceptable GF pie crust mix if you are so inclined. Once I even used a puff-pastry sheet I found in the bottom of my freezer. You can go crust-less, but it really helps the flavor and portability of the quiche to have some kind of pastry shell. You just have to bake it at least 3/4 of the way through before you put in the filling or things won’t cook through the right way in the right times. If you make my perfect pie crust recipe, you can either make TWO quiches (put one in the freezer or give it to a hungry pal) or you can make ONE quiche and keep the second half of the crust dough in the freezer for the next time you want to get quiche-y. I highly recommend either direction. I think it is the crust that keeps people from making this delicious food, so save yourself some bother and plan ahead for your own laziness.
Okay, the rest is easy. Pre-heat your oven to 365 degrees. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil, onions and mushrooms to the heated pan. Also throw a pinch of salt in there to sweat the onions. Let it simmer for 8-10 minutes. I like my onions super soft, if you don’t mind a little crunch, maybe 5 minutes is okay for you. Add the garlic and pepper flakes (both are optional, but add to the flavor), simmer for another minute or two.
Any zucchini will do, but get it sliced as thin as possible. Henry helped me slice mine on a mandolin (under careful supervision)! The zucchini I used was pretty big so we only used one. If yours are on the small side, you could use two.
When you have the zuke slices ready, pop them in your frying pan to soften a little. I had a couple of ears of corn in the fridge so I sliced the kernels off of them. Fresh isn’t required, I’ve used a handful of frozen corn in the past. I recommend not using the canned stuff unless you’re desperate to use some up. It’s too chewy to be good in this recipe. If you have fresh or frozen corn, add it to the pan! 
Turn off the heat on your pan and set it aside for a few minutes while you get the custard and cheese ready.
Shred the cheese. (This part sounds weird, but it helps and it is how we are using whole milk instead of cream in this recipe.) Add a generous pinch of regular flour to the pile of shredded cheese. Use your fingers to gently toss the cheese around a bit. The flour will make the cheese less sticky so it will distribute more evenly in the pie shell AND it will help thicken the filling while it’s cooking.
Mix the custard. Add eggs and milk to a medium-large bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of white ground pepper (if you have it). Whisk it all up and set it aside.
Get your pie shell out and add half of your cheese to the bottom. Spread it around. Then add all the goodies from the frying pan – spread it out evenly. Then add the rest of the cheese.
Then add the custard mix. You don’t want to fill it all the way to the top of the shell, it’s going to expand as it bakes. Sometimes you’ll have more than will fit in the pie shell, that’s okay, just put it down the drain.
CAREFULLY put that beautiful egg pie in the oven and let it bake for about an hour. Sometimes it takes longer, but it won’t ever take less time. When they start to look a little browned on the top, and they poof evenly in the middle, and you seem a uniform giggle when you shake them, they are done. Take them out and let them cool for AT LEAST 20 minutes before cutting into them. If you made a double batch and plan to freeze one… make sure it is fully cooled before wrapping it well in foil and putting it into the freezer. Enjoy!
TIP: This is a perfect time to bake up some beets. The oven is already on and the correct temperature. And the extra humidity won’t hurt the quiche the same way it will a cake!
Art Farm Oregon 