Mushroom Crustless Quiche
January 22, 2018 by Nicole Collins
I'm busting my own myth today!
You see, I always thought that a frittata was just a quiche without a crust. But, boy was I wrong!
I love frittatas. I'm sure you can tell. I make them ALL of the time. Like this Farmer's Market one. Or, this Kale and Harissa one.
But honestly, I make frittatas for a couple of really simple reasons. 1. They're really cheap to make. And 2. They're low carb.
I'm a carboholic for sure. I love bread, and chips, and cookies, and pasta, and carbs, carbs, carbs!
But, I also know that those carbs, carbs, carbs stick to my body like glue. So, I'll usually rob Peter to pay Paul by cutting carbs out of one meal to have more in another.
And, that's really how I became so fond of frittatas. Because, I thought they were just quiches (which I adore) without the crust.
I LOVE pie crust. Like, in a really unhealthy way. I've been known to eat around the crust of a pie without eating the filling.
Love that pie crust.
But, I was SOOOOOO wrong about what the essence of a good quiche meant!
The biggest difference between frittata filling and quiche filling is the milk to egg ratio. Frittatas are heavier on the eggs, while quiches are heavier on the cream. Quiche filling is actually a custard, which makes it a thousand times creamier and more luxurious when you take a bite. A bite of quiche is a special bite, for sure.
So, since I'm still trying to be good in the healthiest month of the year, I decided that instead of making a frittata, I'd switch it up and make a crustless quiche!
So today, we're having Mushroom Crustless Quiche!
You know, for someone that really can't stand the texture of mushrooms, I sure have been cooking with them a lot lately. You just can't beat that flavor! So, you know my mushrooms were chopped up in to teeny tiny little pieces, but you can certainly slice them to a size that's comfortable for you.
For the custard, we use a mix of eggs, heavy cream, and milk. I never have regular milk in my house. I'm 100% an almond milk girl. But, we need the fat from the milk to help keep our quiche nice and creamy, so I stuck with regular cow's milk on this one.
We take those mushrooms, saute them with some butter and shallots, and let them get nice and soft and browned. Then, we top the mushrooms with some shredded gruyere cheese, and pour our custard mix on top. We bake it up in a pie dish in the oven; and we've got the creamiest, earthiest, yummiest crustless quiche around.
The only thing that could make this quiche any better would be a crust. But, we're being good, so we're not going there today!
I serve this quiche the same way I serve my frittatas: with a little salad on the side. So, since you know how I roll, this quiche goes great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, snack...whatever!
So, now you're in the know too. The frittata/quiche debate is one less myth that you have to bust on your own!
Enjoy, and let's eat!
Mushroom Crustless Quiche Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
4 oz shitake mushrooms, chopped
4 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
5 eggs
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup milk (I used 2%)
½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp pepper, plus more to taste
3 oz gruyere cheese, shredded
cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms, shallots, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until softened and starting to caramelize, 8-10 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, add eggs, cream, milk, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Whisk to combine.
Spray a pie plate/dish with cooking spray. Spread mushroom mix over the bottom of the dish. Top with cheese. Pour egg custard over the cheese. Bake for 25 mins until the edges start to brown. Serve!
Recipe notes:
*I almost never have regular milk on hand, and I use almond milk for everything. But, we need the fat from the milk for the custard, so I wouldn't recommend swapping in almond milk on this one.
*I don't like the texture of mushrooms, so I chopped mine up REALLY small. But, you could also just slice the mushrooms if you don't have an issue like me.
*You can store the extra gruyere block that you don't use in the freezer by wrapping it back up in its wrapper and sticking it in a sandwich bag. When you're ready to use it again, just thaw it overnight in the fridge.
