A quiche with a green salad and a glass of wine or beer makes an excellent dinner which can be prepared in about an hour. Even better, you can make it up on the weekend, freeze it, then pull it out and heat in the microwave for an even faster dinner.

I always start with a nine inch, deep dish pie shell. Rather than hassle with making a pie crust, I just purchase the ready made shells in a disposable aluminum pan. Since these come two pie shells to a package, I usually make two quiches and store one in the freezer for another time.

I call this a flexible quiche because you can just mix the basic ingredients and bake that as a plain quiche or you can add other ingredients for tasty alternatives. Frankly, I prefer the alternatives, but that is me.

1 – 9 inch, deep dish pie shell (if you are just making the basic quiche, a regular pie shell will also work)

2/3 Cup of shredded cheese – a combination of swiss and cheddar is good but other cheeses will work. You can substitute others depending upon your tastes. In a pinch, I have used any cheese I had on hand and, on more than one occasion, have omitted the cheese when I didn't have any in the house and didn't want to take the time to go to the store. I used to shred the cheese myself, but now days, to save time, I just buy a bag of pre-shredded cheese.

1 Tablespoon of minced onion. This can be fresh or dried and can be omitted if you don't like onion.

3 Large eggs

2 Tablespoons of flour

1 cup of milk

1/2 teaspoon of salt

These are the basic ingredients and, when used alone, will make a regular quiche. I, personally, would add some additional seasonings to this, but this depends upon your taste.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Place pie shell in oven for about 5 minutes to slightly brown and harden the crust. Since the quiche mixture will be liquid, your pie shell will be soggy unless you bake it slightly first.

Remove crust from oven and cover bottom evenly with shredded cheese

Beat eggs and flour until smooth.

Blend in milk, onion, salt and any additional seasonings you desire.

Pour mixture into pie shell, place pan on a cookie sheet or larger pan to prevent spilling if mixture should boil over (this is especially important if using regular, rather than deep dish, shell and mixture is close to top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 and bake for another 25 – 30 minutes then remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes to cool before cutting into wedges and serving. The mixture should be firm when cooked and a knife inserted into the center of the mixture should come out clear with no mixture clinging to it.

 

This is too bland for me and I have never made a quiche like this. Instead, here are three variations to the above instructions. The steps and ingredients listed below for each variation are in ADDITION to the above ingredients and steps listed above – the steps and ingredients above are to be included in each of the variations below.

 

Pizza Quiche

 

Use directions and ingredients above and add the following:

 

1 – 8 oz can of tomato sauce

 

1 – 8 oz can of sliced mushrooms (8 oz can of stems and pieces of mushroom also works) – this is optional.

 

1/4 teaspoon of basil

 

1/4 teaspoon of oregano

 

Sliced pepperoni

 

Mix ingredients as described above and include in mixture 1/2 of the can of tomato sauce (set rest aside for now), the mushrooms (unless you want to omit them), basil and oregano. Pour mixture into the prepared shell and place pepperoni slices on top (these can also be omitted if desired). Bake as described above and when quiche is removed from the oven, drizzle the remaining tomato sauce over top, let cool and cut into wedges.

 

Spinach Quiche

 

Use directions and ingredients listed at top and add the following:

 

1 - 8 oz package of frozen, chopped spinach. This should be thawed and drained. You can substitute fresh spinach (chopped) if desired.

 

1 cup of picante sauce (salsa). This is optional and can be mild, medium or hot depending upon your taste. You can also add more or less than 1 cup depending upon taste.

 

1/2 Teaspoon of black pepper (also optional)

 

Mix ingredients as described at the top and include the spinach, picante (salsa) sauce and pepper.

 

Bake as described above.

 

 

Broccoli Quiche

 

Use directions and ingredients listed at top and add the following:

 

 

1 – 8 oz package of frozen, chopped broccoli. This should be thawed and drained. An equivalent amount of fresh chopped broccoli can be substituted for the frozen broccoli.

 

1 – 8 oz can of sliced mushrooms (8 oz can of stems and pieces of mushroom also works) – this is optional.

 

1 cup of picante sauce (salsa). This is optional and can be mild, medium or hot depending upon your taste. You can also add more or less than 1 cup depending upon taste.

 

1/2 Teaspoon of black pepper (also optional)

 

Mix ingredients as described at the top and include the broccoli, picante (salsa) sauce, mushrooms and pepper.

Bake as described above.

Any one of these combinations will make an excellent main dish for a meal. Add a fresh green salad some fresh, crusty French bread and a glass of wine and you have a complete meal.