Easy Quiche

Easy quiche.

This quiche is easy from start to finish.  Seriously... it’s ‘chop, dump, bake.’  Don’t limit yourself to the fillings I have here.. be creative.  Fresh chopped spinach, bacon and water chestnuts is an amazing combo for the same recipe.  The baking does take a while so leave an hour and a half or so from fridge to plate.  Prep time is minimal (twenty minutes or so, including crust, 10 min or so if you do a frittata or frozen crust)

One of the family staples... with a different combination every time (honestly, its an easy way to use up those bits and pieces left over in the fridge for what seems like a deliberate plan)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup each: Asparagus, onion, broccoli. mushrooms. green beans and ham
1 cup red potatoes
6 eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, swiss or Gruyere are my favorites)
½ tsp each lemon thyme, basil, tarragon
¼ tsp each salt, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and paprika

Crust:

1 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 tbs olive oil
2-3 tbs cold milk
¼ tsp tarragon
¼ tsp lemon thyme

The keys to making good pie crust are to:
a) work fast
b) don’t over work the dough

Mix the flour, salt and herbs.  
Slice the butter into ⅛” thick slices
Add butter to flour mixture and chop together with a fork until it forms little crumbly balls.  To not work into a paste, keep it loose
Add a drizzle of olive oil, and chop in
Add enough milk, little by little to absorb the loose flour and hold it all together
Push into a ball in the bowl
Stop.

Flour a workspace and a rolling pin.
Press the ball of dough flat with the palm of your hand on well floured surface.  Flip, and flour lightly, Roll until ¼” or so thick.  Dust the top with more flour.
Use a pastry knife to fold in half, then half again, like a crepe
Transfer to a floured plate and hold in freezer

Time to move on to making the filling....

Chop veggies into reasonable quiche sized bits.  
Blanche potatoes for a minute or two, and the other green veggies for about 30 seconds.
Hit with cold water to shock and cool a bit, mix in a bowl with onion, mushrooms (and ham if not a vegetarian)
Set aside.

Mix four eggs (minus two yolks) , milk, herbs and spices.  Set aside.

Unfold crust into large oiled and floured cast iron skillet or pie dish, poke holes in the bottom and sides with a fork

Add veggie mixture, top with shredded cheese.  our egg mixture over the top, leaving about a half to three quarters of an inch of room for expansion.

Bake for 50 minutes at 375f.  Check.  If needed, leave in for another 5-10 minutes.  Don’t bake for more than an hour or the crust will start to burn and the quiche will dry out.  

It will be a bit moist when you first pull it out, ut don’t worry, the egg will keep cooking for another five or ten minutes, leaving it perfect.

Plate with salad of your choice.  Green salad it best looking, but a cucumber salad tastes better (at least to us)