Contrary to popular culture, a quiche, a custard pie, does not define masculinity. Real men not only eat quiche, but they can also make it, and very well, too. It is at once simple and seems elegant. It reveals a versatile canvas to do two main things: use up leftovers and show off your cooking skills.
Quiche is eggs and cream in a pastry shell. This is nothing unique to France, you’ll find dishes using these ingredients all around the world, especially in Britain and Italy. These dishes usually also contain fillings of meat, cheese, vegetables and seafood. The most famous variety of quiche is Quiche Lorraine (we just happen to have our recipe right here.), which adds Swiss cheese and bacon to the filling. But there are other variations that are popular, like spinach, ham and cheese, and this simple Onion Quiche.
I recommend this recipe for beginners because it is so simple and easy. You can easily spruce it up with other ingredients and seasonings to the filling. This is also inexpensive to make so you can experiment without guilt.
The recipe as written is a little on the bland side, so consider adding some dried herbs or pepper. From this basic recipe, you build all sorts of great dishes. You can have a frozen pie crust waiting, it only takes a couple of hours to thaw. If you have a food processor, whipping up homemade pie crust is a breeze. But frozen works fine for a quiche. You can also throw in some leftover ham, just dice it up; use different cheeses and shred them together. Just remember to keep your proportions right. You might need to add an extra egg and more milk. What a great way to get rid of leftovers.
The Basic Recipe
This simple quiche is versatile and goes with everything. From this basic recipe, you can make many different varieties to use up leftover ingredients from other dishes.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 lage onion, diced
- 3 eggs*
- 1/3 cup heavy cream or 1/2 cup whole milk*
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese, Swiss preferred*
- 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust, deep dish preferred
* These amounts can be increased if you add more ingredients. Try to keep the proportions the same. For example, if I add diced ham and an extra 1/4 cup of cheese, I will also add one egg and another 1/4 cup of milk or cream. You want to make sure all ingredients can fit into the pie shell.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees F (190 C) and make sure the rack is in the middle position in the oven.
- Put a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt the butter in the pan, then add all the onions. Stir occasionally and cook until the onions are soft. Remove from heat.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and cream or milk until well mixed. Stir in the cheese and mix well. If you want to add herbs or meat or other filling ingredients, now is the time to mix those in. Line the soft onions evenly on the bottom of the pie crust. Then pour the egg mixture over the onions.
- Bake in the preheat oven for 30 minutes or until the eggs are set.
Nutritional Information:
The recipe as listed makes 8 servings. Each serving has 212 calories, 5.4 grams of protein, 12.7 g of Carbohydrates, 15.7 g Fat, 91.3 mg cholesterol, and 210 mg sodium.
