In my household, real men (meaning my husband, Russ) not only eat quiche, but enjoy it.

My favorite quiche recipe came from my sister, Debbie. Although I have made it exactly as she gave it to me the first time, I have never made it the same way twice ever since, not because I don’t adore her original recipe, but because I use whatever cheeses I happen to have available. I don’t exactly follow original suggestions for amounts of cheese either, usually putting at least a half-cup more… just because. Although I usually use fresh spinach because that’s what I know what Russ will eat, Debbie’s recipe also includes broccoli as an alternative.

Occasionally I add some cooked, crumbled bacon, but have also added al dente diced asparagus and/or ham. My cheese assortments have been swiss, gruyere, muenster, boursin, feta, ricotta, cheddar, or a mixture of Italian cheeses. The result is that each time, the texture and taste are different. The dish lends itself to improvisation.

I make my crust from scratch. The recipe calls for using a 9” ready-made pie crust. I happened to grab my 10” pie plate which is why the picture shows the filling not quite reaching the top. I will give you the recipe as provided, and in italic give you the alterations I made for this particular quiche. Let me say upfront that this was so good, Russ was reluctant to even share a piece with friends.

Ingredients

Pie crust (I put fork holes on the bottom and sides to prevent it from puffing up unevenly.)

1 package frozen chopped spinach (squeeze dry) or 1-1/2 to  2 cups broccoli flowers  (chopped in food processor). I used sbout 12 ounces chopped, fresh spinach.                                      

1/2 cup scallions, sliced thin (roughly 4-5, both the green and white parts)

1 clove minced garlic. I used 2 large cloves (What can I say? Love garlic.)

2 Tbs butter

4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 eggs lightly beaten

1-1/2 cup muenster cheese (grated) (I added a ½ cup of swiss cheese, grated.)

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp celery salt (optional) (I added Spike seasoning.)

2-3 tsp parmesan cheese, fresh preferably. (I cover the top of the pie filling lightly.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425*

Cook the bacon, crumble and set aside.

Saute onions and garlic in butter in large pan. Add the spinach or broccoli.  (I added the bacon here. Then press the mixture down with pan at a tilt in order to remove any excess liquid.) Set aside.

Combine the cheese/s, eggs, milk, salts. Stir.

Add the spinach/broccoli mixture.

Pre-bake the pie shell for five minutes.  Pour mixture into shell.  Bake at 425* for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350* for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle on parmesan and bake 10 more minutes.

The top should be puffy and center should wiggle slightly.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Can be reheated.

Karen Kuzsel is a writer-editor based in the Orlando area who specializes in the hospitality, entertainment, meetings & events industries.  She is an active member of ILEA and MPI and is now serving on the 2019 – 2020 MPI Global Advisory Board for The Meeting Professional Magazine for the fourth consecutive year. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Karen writes about food & wine, spas, destinations, venues, meetings & events. A career journalist, she has owned magazines, written for newspapers, trade publications, radio and TV. As her alter-ego, Natasha, The Psychic Lady, she is a featured entertainer for corporate and social events. Karen@KarenKuzsel.com; www.KarenKuzsel.com; www.ThePsychicLady.com; @karenkuzsel; @thepsychiclady. Food photos for this series by Karen Kuzsel.