Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…Hebrews 1:1
QUICHE
So what is a quiche? The proper definition is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savory custard and pieces of cheese, meat and vegetables. What is it really? Egg pie. Of course, there is more to the pie than egg but it’s egg pie and it is one of the easiest dishes to make. You can make it as simple or as elaborate you want. I will be giving you two recipes that are family’s favorites.
You can really make quiche with just about anything. I remember my mom made a quiche with canned corn beef hash when I was younger. I have to say that it wasn’t one of my favorites. Nope. Not a favorite at all. But there are so many variations to this dish. The most common is Quiche Lorraine, which consists of bacon and cheese and it’s yummy. You can add any vegetable, cheese or meat you like. The two that I usually fix are Sausage and Cheddar and Spinach and Cheese. Again, you can use whatever cheese you have in the refrigerator. I had some sliced provolone cheese so I decided to use it. Liked it a lot! I’ve made a broccoli and cheese quiche before and it turned out beautiful.
If you like making pie crust then by all means, use it. I am not a fan of making pastry of any kind. I start with frozen piecrust. Since there are usually two crusts in a package, I bake two quiche. Obviously, you don’t have to do this but because this is so easy, I make them both and have leftovers for the week. I like to use the deep-dish variety. I’ve used the regular kind but sometimes the filling overflows and get’s all over the place. Deep-dish works perfectly. I don’t thaw them out unless there are breaks in the crust. If there are any breaks you want it thawed so you can mend the breaks by gently putting it back together. I place the piecrust on a baking sheet lined with foil just in case of an overflow. Never can be too cautious. J
You need to make sure whatever you are going to put in your filling is already prepared. I brown and drain my sausage and let cool before going into the crust. I use frozen spinach for my other quiche and so I have it thawed and then squeeze as much of the water you can out of it. It seems I can squeeze and squeeze and squeeze and it still has liquid in it. Do your best. You want to make sure the cheese is shredded or the bag is opened. Believe it or not, for an ‘egg pie’ it only uses four eggs a pie.
So you have your oven preheated, your piecrust on the baking sheet and your filling ready to go. Next is preparing the egg custard. So easy! Crack four eggs into a bowl and add a cup of cream, a pinch of salt and beat until smooth. And now you are ready to assemble the quiche. I will put all filling in the piecrust before pouring the custard over the pies. This way the quiche won’t get soggy before going into the oven. Put the filling in and then pour the egg custard over the filling and immediately put it in the preheated oven and 45 minutes later your quiche is ready to devour. My mom loves the spinach and cheese and PK really likes the Sausage and Cheese quiche. I like them both. You can serve it with a salad or breakfast potatoes. Hope you enjoy!
Sausage & Cheese Quiche
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream or half & half
Salt to season
8 oz. breakfast sausage
1 ½ cup shredded cheddar
1 frozen pie crust
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the piecrust on a foil lined baking sheet.
In a small skillet, brown the breakfast sausage, breaking it up while cooking. Drain, cool and set aside.
Beat the eggs, heavy cream and salt in a bowl until completely combined.
Put the sausage and cheese in the pie crust making sure everything is evenly distributed. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and cheese. Carefully put it in the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Yields: 8 servings
Spinach & Cheese Quiche
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream or half & half
½ tsp salt
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dried
1 ½ cup shredded cheese
1 frozen pie crust.
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pie crust on a foiled lined baking sheet.
Combine eggs, heavy cream and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk until completely combined.
Put the spinach and cheese in the piecrust making sure it’s evenly distributed.
Pour the egg mixture the spinach and cheese. Carefully, put it in the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the center is set. Let set for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Yield: 8 servings
