It's a Quiche, Not Rocket Science

Photo courtesy of Susie Cushner - Real Simple

I'm always amused by people who are flabbergasted when they see me eating quiche, as if it were some exotic food that required hours of prep time and expensive ingredients. Maybe it's the "qu". I mean, who would name a simple egg pie using a "qu"?  A quiche is my standby when I'm lazy and don't feel like being creative in the kitchen. It tastes great, is simple to make, and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand. You can make a quiche fancy with interesting ingredients like seafood or unusual vegetables. The best part of a quiche is it's flexibility. You can put in anything you want depending on what you're craving. My basic is a quiche lorraine - swiss cheese, onions, and ham (or bacon). But I've made quiches with goat cheese and spinach, cheddar cheese with salsa, shrimp and scallops, blue cheese and chicken... the options are as endless of your imagination.

Here are the basic ingredients:
1 deep dish pie dough round (pre-made is fine)
3 whole eggs, 2 egg yolks
1 small container of greek yogurt
1 cup of milk
salt and pepper
Stuff (3 oz of cheese and 1 oz of meat or some variation thereof)

That, my friends, is your quiche. I love using yogurt because it gives it an extra bit of tang and gives it a richness. I use Greek yogurt because regular yogurt has too much liquid. If you don't have yogurt, you can substitute it with a cup of cream or half-and-half. I use fat free yogurt and skim milk so that I feel less guilty about dumping in the rest of the ingredients.

Directions
Preheat your oven to 375'.  Put the pie dough in your deep dish pan and prick the bottom a few times with some fork tines. This keeps the bottom from poofing up too badly. Once the oven is preheated, put the dish in for 5-10 minutes. Not too much longer or the crust will start to shrink down the sides of the pan and you'll have less room for your filling.

While the crust is par-baking, beat together your eggs with the yogurt and milk.  If you want a tall fluffy quiche, you can beat all your egg whites into a meringue-like stiffness and then carefully add your yolks and dairy. It'll still taste great if you just beat all the whites and yolks together - it'll just be flatter. If you are using cheese, grate it or crumble it into the egg/dairy mixture and mix it up.  I find that just putting the cheese in the bottom of the pan makes it kind of stay towards the bottom in a thick layer. Add a little salt and pepper if you think it needs it.

Pull your crust back out of the oven, place your other "stuff" in the bottom of the pan (if using things with a lot of water like spinach or mushrooms, make sure you've squeezed out as much moisture as possible before putting it in), dump the egg/dairy mixture on top, and put the pie back in the oven. Set your timer for another 45 minutes and sit back and watch your favorite TV show.

The quiche is ready when it's golden brown on top and doesn't jiggle in the pan. I'd recommend letting it sit for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving to give it a chance to cool and set. I enjoy serving mine with a simple salad with a red wine vinaigrette; the vinegar provides a nice balance with the eggy cheesey pie.  Quiche also reheats great in the microwave for the next day.

A single pie will serve four people as a main meal, quarter pie each. One hour, start to finish with minimal ingredients and no advanced culinary degrees required. Make one or two or three and impress you friends with your cheese pie spelled with a "qu".