Don’t Knock It Till You’ve Tried It: Quick Ham and Cheese Quiche
Me: I’m thinking of making a quiche with the leftover ham for breakfast tomorrow.
Shawn: A quiche? (crinkles nose) Am I even going to like that?
Me: I don’t see why you wouldn’t. It’s just eggs, ham and cheese.
Shawn: That’s all?
Me: Yes, that’s it. I can’t believe you’ve never had one before
My husband had never had quiche before I whipped this one up last week. Although it was a brunch staple in my household growing up, it wasn’t in his. He was particularly surprised to actually like it. It just goes to show that just because you haven’t had something doesn’t mean it isn’t totally delicious and worth eating.
Quiche is a lighter, fluffier French cousin of the frittata. It is often made in a pie crust, but can be made crustless as well. For this quiche, I used leftover ham but you could use a cubed ham steak too for this recipe too. But the possibilities for quiche are endless. Vegetables and meats of all shapes and sizes can be added. But you have to have cheese, if you ask me. Without cheese, it’s just eggs in a crust. But, traditionally, quiches didn’t typically contain cheese . . .
For seasoning, this recipe uses herbes de provence, which is a dried herb blend consisting of rosemary, fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, oregano, lavender, chervil and marjoram. I use this blend a lot because it combines several of my favorite herbs – rosemary, thyme, basil and lavender, namely. It is mostly used to season chickens, beef or pork tenderloin, but gives a great flavor to this quiche. My bottle comes from Penzeys but you can also order it from Amazon
Quick Ham and Cheese Quiche
serves 6
1 prepared pie shell (NOT a deep dish shell)
1 1/2 cup cooked ham, diced
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 tsp herbes de provence
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the pie crust in a pie pan (if it isn’t already in one) and put that on a cookie sheet. Layer ham then cheese in the pie crust. Whisk together eggs, milk, herbs, pepper and salt. Pour the mixture over the cheese.
Put the quiche on the baking sheet into the preheated oven and cook for 32 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes until the top is puffed and golden and a tester (such as a toothpick) inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. It makes a great addition to a brunch or could be served alongside some sliced seasonal fruits . . . Mmmm.
Category: Breakfasts, eggs, pork
