No Crust Required: Crustless Broccoli & Feta Quiche

By Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches


When I was growing up, my mom made Quiche Lorraine all the time. I didn't know who Lorraine was, but I was pretty smitten with the eggy pie loaded with ham and cheese baked into a tender crust. It was a dinner item and went well alongside a green salad. It wasn't until my adult years that I realized many people ate quiche as a brunch dish. It's versatility is just one of its treasures.


Needless to say, I love quiche, but I'm not a fan of making pie dough. It causes me stress and while I've had a few good runs, I'd rather skip the process if I can. However, that's not to say that I'll buy frozen pie dough. Nope, not me. I haven't found one that's as good as homemade. So when I spotted a recipe for a quiche last year that didn't require a crust - just a light dusting of bread crumbs, I was sold.


I liked this crustless quiche so much that I've made it several times of the course of the year. Often, its ingredients are based on what I've got in the fridge - it's a good fridge clean-up meal. This version has a load of broccoli and feta, but like I said, the joys of a quiche are in its versatility. Add diced cooked potatoes, crumbled cooked bacon and some grated swiss cheese. Or spinach and sauteed mushrooms. Or go for the old Quiche Lorraine standby. It's all good. And because there's no crust required, it's available on a whim and healthier to boot. Not a bad trade-off if you ask me.


Crustless Broccoli & Feta Quiche

butter, for greasing pie plate
2 tablespoons of bread crumbs

1 head of broccoli

3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
a pinch of salt & good grind of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
2 tablespoons of minced red onion

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Butter the bottom and sides of a pie plate and dust with bread crumbs. Set aside.

2. Break broccoli into florets and chop the stem into bits. Steam until tender-crisp and bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs together, add in the milk salt and pepper and dill. Stir in the onions.

4. Pour egg mixture into the prepared pie plate and scatter the broccoli evenly over top. Do the same with the feta cheese. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until eggs are set. Cut into wedges. Serves 4 - or 2 hungry appetites.

Jan Halvarson

14 comments:

Sarah said...

This looks great; love crustless quiches!

Amber @ fromtheseeds said...

This is a great recipe, I think I will make some smaller versions in a muffin pan for after work snacks :)

Peggy said...

Jeannette,
Thanks for the great post! I love quiche but my family does not... I currently own mini pie pans which will be great for this. I have some chicken pot pie ingredients in the freezer which will make a wonderful quiche! Once again thank you!

little yellow apple said...

This looks so so yummy! I am no chef but this receipe seems easy enough for me to make but I'm not sure if I'll share....:o)

Aegean Dreams said...

Wonderful recipe, I will be trying this, for sure!

ane pixestos said...

For what it's worth, I did not make quiche crust either... until I found this super easy recipe - which, funnily enough, I just made this morning, so I had the recipe out.
I could not find the original blog I got the recipe from, but here is one that has the exact same recipe and instructions. When I don't have butter, I used approx. 1/2 cup lard (for people who are not afraid of lard - I think it can be healthier than butter), and the results are even better.

Florence said...

Lorraine is a French region (north eastern France). The "Quiche Lorraine" is a pie made with cream, eggs and "french bacon" named "lard fumé".
Your recipe is tempting, i test it soon !

Blace said...

so hungry now. thanks for this. i must try to make it one day.

http://tinyaltars.blogspot.com

Shirleen @ Sugar and Spice said...

I think this is what we're going to have for dinner tonight, accompanied by nice artisan bread and spicy tomato soup on the side...whilst we watch the royal wedding on tele! Thanks for posting this. :-)

Bruise Mouse said...

Thanks for the dinner inspiration. I saw this and knew that I had all of the ingredients. It was on the table less than an hour later.
Cheers

Blanka said...

It looks like the perfect recipe for perfect quiche. I absolutely love feta cheese. And brocolli too. I'm looking forward to it as I love baking very much.
It looks so yummy. I got hungry reading the recipe:D

Have a nice day!

Andrea Dixon said...

I just made this using 2 cups of a leftover chicken & rice nepalese dish I made the other night instead of the broccoli and cilantro instead of the herbs. Turned out fantastic! Point being- it's a great recipe for modification too:) Thanks so much for posting!

Anonymous said...

I just made this for a dinner party and it came out GREAT!!!

Heidi Smith said...

We call that a frittata! I too have a love hate relationship with pie dough. I bet you will find frittata recipes you like as well ;) We also enjoy them for dinner. it's a great "kitchen sink" dinner.

I think I will make this soon though.