Crustless Quiche

This is just a basic crustless quiche recipe. Feel free to load your quiche with veggies, cheese, meat, cheese, and whatever else tickles your tastebuds’ fancy. Like cheese.

I have been fed quiche all my life. It’s not bad. I really do like it. Well, the filling anyway. In my culinary belief, pie crust is meant to be filled with fruity sweetness, chocolate mousse, or some other custard. It’s for dessert! To be fair, I don’t love the crust on pies either. It’s all about the filling for me.

When I learned that I could make a quiche without the crust, I was happier than was warranted.

I might also be a bit biased since potatoes are their own food group to me. In all objective fairness, since first making quiche with a potato base, no one has hinted at wanting the pie-crust quiche to return.

• PREPARING POTATO BASE

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

I have used potatoes other than russets (Yukon Gold and New Red Potatoes). All have turned out fine; but the russets just have a texture that holds up better than the others. Plus, I can find huge russets! The bigger the better to line your pie dish.

*Side note – I have never used a metal baking dish for this recipe. All I have is glass, such as this one – which I prefer. Use what you have or what you prefer.

Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes lengthwise.  You don’t have to use a mandolin. A knife and steady hand will do just fine. Try to cut even slices about a ¼” thick. Too thin and they will easily crisp in the oven and become to brittle. Too thick and they will not cook unevenly and break from being undercooked.  Since I do not have a steady cutting hand whatsoever, I rely heavily on my mandolin.

Toss slices in 3 T of olive oil. Lay potato slices out in a single layer on two baking sheets lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake until tender but not browned. About 10-15 minutes. The goal is to get the potato to bend into the quiche dish without breaking because they are too undercooked or too crispy from overcooking. Pliable potatoes!

Once cooled enough to touch, line the sides of a 9” pie dish with your potatoes, slightly overlapping. Then repeat with the bottom of the dish. I recommend using the best and biggest slices for the sides. And the not-as-pretty for the bottom. No matter what you do, quiche filling will leak out from the potato base – it’s potato. If your quiche is set properly, it will stick to the potato and none will be lost to the dish.

I do overlap slightly because not only does it look lovely, it also acts like a more complete crust since potatoes don’t come with straight edges and won’t fit like a satisfying game of Tetris.

P.S. I never have to use all the potatoes and not all come out ‘quiche worthy.’ Add some salt and snack while your cooking.

• QUICHE FILLING

This is where you can get creative. You can add nothing to your egg base other than some salt, pepper, and some herbs if you want something incredibly simple. If you’re going for a fancy potato and scrambled eggs, that would be it.

BUT…

If you want a quiche full of savory flavors just think about what you like.

There are the classics like Quiche Lorraine. But for the most part, your imagination is the limit.

Whatever you choose, ending up with 1 1/2 – 2 cups of cooked filling is the goal.

*IMPORTANT – DO NOT PUT RAW VEGETABLES OR RAW MEAT INTO A QUICHE. Unless you want them to remain raw and most likely have a watery, and potentially hazardous quiche.

When adding ingredients into a quiche, the less moisture the better. Remember to drain any fat from your cooked meat.

For this particular one, we chose mushrooms and onions, my daughter’s favorite.

Other great quiche ingredients:

Spinach (if using frozen drain it until you think it can’t drain anymore)

Broccoli

Carrot

Onion, zucchini, bacon, sausage, ground beef/turkey, bell peppers… Think of a quiche like a fancy, oven baked omelet.

If you putting ANYTHING into your quiche’s egg base, cook it first, and then let it cool to around room temperature or it will start to cook your egg base.

For mushrooms and onions:

Evenly slice mushrooms (or buy pre-sliced) and white onion. Add 1 T oil to a pan over medium-low heat. Add sliced mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle with salt. Not only does salt help enhance their flavors, it helps draw out the moisture.

Stir to coat with oil and let it be for 10-20 minutes until moisture has been cooked away, only stirring occasionally. Don’t let it burn though.

Once done, remove from heat and allow mushrooms and onion to cool to room temperature.

Let your oven temperature fall to 375 degrees for baking your quiche. While that is cooling, mix together the quiche’s egg base. Combine 4 large eggs and 1 ½ C half and half. Whisk together until well combined.

A not about dairy. You don’t have to use half and half. You can use regular milk, a bit of cream, or a combination of all three. It’s really a mix and match deal. But the more fat in your dairy, the creamier the egg base.

Need to go lactose free?

Yes, you can use a non-dairy substitute. BUT, it WILL alter the texture. And not all non-dairy milks are created equally. The best alternative is soy because the consistency is the most similar to dairy milk.  Personally, I find that non-dairy unsweetened creamer works best of all. It keeps the fat content similar to using dairy cream giving your quiche that nice creamy texture.

Any milk substitute will work though. Which one will be best for you is going to take some experimentation. The liquid-to-egg measurements remain the same no matter your milk choice. Just make sure to use unsweetened non-dairy milk substitutes!

Do NOT use egg white only! Quiche filling is a type of custard, egg yolks are essential.

If you insist on omitting the yolks, or just happen to only have a carton of egg whites, beat the white until soft peaks form and gently fold in the liquid. Again, the final texture will be altered. A bit more ‘grainy’ and airy as opposed to smooth and silky.

Once your egg mixture is done, it’s assembly time!

• ASSEMBLY

Because I hate to clean my oven and am overly cautious, I place my pie dish on a backing sheet (covered in foil) just on the off chance that some overflows. Whether it be from carrying it to the oven, or it just rises a bit over the top of the dish.

Let’s talk cheese.

What kind?

Yes.

Typically, cheeses such as Swiss, gruyere, and fontina are used. As with the rest of your ingredients – what do you like? What goes with the items you’ve chosen.

The amount of cheese also depends on you.

Word of caution: do not go too overboard. Cheeses have oil. Oil can collect and become a not wonderful puddle on and around your quiche. This coming from a cheese lover…

I like to put a thin layer of cheese on the bottom, then my sautéed ingredients, gently pour egg mixture over veggies, and top with more cheese.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

If your quiche is done, it should have very little wobble. Again, think of it as a baked omelet. If you use a good amount of cheese, a toothpick might not come out clean until it has been baked to a crisp. This is also why I prefer to bake it in a transparent baking dish. I can pick it up, look at the bottom to see if any liquid egg remains.

Sometimes the top will brown faster than the middle will cook. If your quiche is getting too browned, lightly tent a sheet of foil over the top and continue to cook.

Feel free to sprinkle the top of your finished quiche with some fresh herbs, such as parsley or basil. Not only to give it a pop of color, but enhance the flavor and add a bit of vitamins. I would have preferred to add some parsley, but my daughter is currently against the herb…

I suggest once it’s done baking, let the quiche sit for at least five minutes to set a bit more. It’s like taking piping hot chocolate-chip cookies off the baking sheet straight out of the oven. It can be done, but they are still super gooey and risk falling apart.  Plus, the quiche is scorching hot and will burn your mouth!  

Serve alone or alongside a fresh salad.

However you decide to enjoy your crustless quiche, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!