Quiche has an air of elegance to it, doesn’t it? Really, though, with the requisite custard base, it can be a dumping ground for whatever you have in your refrigerator! Today I suggest three variations for you to try.
I’ve always wondered where on Earth came the toxic masculinity idea of men not eating quiche and that salads are “rabbit food.” Does the stigma still exist? In my opinion, not in Europe, but I think it does in the US. It’s a shame that anyone, regardless of gender, would be afraid of eggs, milk and cheese, unless they are lactose intolerant! 😊 That said, a quiche is perfectly suitable for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
My first truly memorable quiche experience was over 30 years ago when I went to Big Sur, California and stayed at Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn. Deetjen’s is a rustic spot on Highway One, near the dramatic cliffs overlooking the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean. The only thing they had on their menu at the time was a deep-dish quiche. It looked straight out of a renaissance still life painting and I’ve been a quiche fan ever since. Deetjen’s now has an award-winning restaurant but one thing that hasn’t changed in 30 years is that if you dine there, you’ll leave smelling like their fireplace, the aroma is so strong.
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Ingredients
- 1 deep dish pie crust (use your own favorite recipe; use a store bought deep dish pie crust; or here is the recipe I make from Martha Stewart: https://www.marthastewart.com/317858/pate-brisee-pie-dough)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups grated Asiago, Monterey Jack, Provolone or Gouda cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan, Grana Padano, or Pecorino cheese
- 5 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Plus, ingredients from one of the variations: A) Green Monster Quiche: 2 cups small broccoli florets, plus 1 cup roughly chopped fresh spinach leaves, B) Italian Quiche: 1 red bell pepper, diced into 1/2-inch (1 cm) pieces, plus either 2 tablespoons basil pesto, or a 10-12 fresh basil leaves roughly chopped, or, C) Quasi-French Quiche Lorraine: 6 pieces of bacon, fried, drained and crumbled, OR, 1 cup of 1/2-inch (1cm) diced ham, plus 1 small red onion diced and sautéed with a tablespoon of olive oil until translucent (about 7 minutes), then drained of any oil and cooled
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180 C
- Make pie dough (or use store bought) and line a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan or removeable bottom tart pan with the dough at least 2 1/2 inches (6 cm) high on the sides. Remember, this is a deep-dish quiche, so a regular pie tin will not be deep enough
- Crumple a piece of parchment baking paper and place it in the pie shell. Fill the pie shell with dried beans, rice, lentils or baking pie weights to prevent the shell from puffing up from the bottom or sagging on the sides when you “blind bake” it.
- “Blind bake” the pie shell for 30 minutes, or until the edges of the pie shell are golden. Remove the parchment paper and the pie weights
- Choose which quiche variation you’d like from the ingredient list, above
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, milk and eggs. This is your custard mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients (from whichever variation you chose) to the custard mixture and stir until well combined
- Pour the custard mixture into the blind baked pie shell. To avoid spills in the oven, place the springform pan or tart pan on top of a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 60 minutes. When done, the custard should be ever so slightly jiggly in the center, yet set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold
Greg Nelson Cooks 
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