Quiche à Odette: The Easiest Quiche Ever

Quiche à Odette -- the world's easiest quiche

Last year, for pi day, I decided to make genuine quiche -- from scratch. We didn't eat until close to 8:00 p.m. (Dinner at our house is usually around 6.) It was delicious, but definitely not worth the time and effort, especially when compared with this super-easy, crustless option.

Odette was our neighbour in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and she shared many things with me: parenting tips, creativity, inspiration, and recipes. This easy quiche forgoes a crust and simply tosses a little flour right in with the egg mixture. You can make it as simple or fancy as you wish. I do typically double the recipe to make two pies at once because I serve 1/4 of the pie as a single portion.

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup evaporated milk or half & half cream
1 cup shredded cheddar
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
½ onion, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
¼ pound bacon
¼ cup minced cilantro
1 tomato sliced
2 Tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Spray bottom of your pie plate generously with cooking spray.

Fry the bacon while you mince the onion and slice the mushrooms.

When the bacon is done, drain all but 1 Tablespoons of fat from the pan and sauté the mushrooms and onion (you can skip this step, but your quiche will be a little watery). Chop the bacon.

While the vegetables fry, mix your egg base using either a whisk or a food processor: eggs, flour, cream. When it is thoroughly combined (scrape the sides of your bowl, to be sure), add the cheddar and mix with a regular beater or a spoon.

Place the tasty, greasy bits in the pan.

Place the mushroom-onion mixture and most of the bacon in the bottom of your pie pan. Pour the egg-cheddar mixture over top. Arrange the tomato slices on top of the mixture, and sprinkle it with the chopped cilantro. Garnish heavily with the grated parmesan.

Bake for 30 minutes. When you open the oven, it should look like this.

All puffed up.

When you give it a little shake, it should NOT jiggle. A knife inserted in the middle will still come out moist. The top will deflate as it cools (unfortunately -- I like the puffy look).

Serve it with a hearty salad (I add feta, almonds, and hemp hearts to mine for a little protein boost).

You can tell by all the eggy stains on the cookbook page that this is a favourite recipe.

Serves four. 354 calories per serving, with a good balance of proteins and carbs. You may, of course, make lots of substitutions (add spinach!), especially if you are watching your fats.  Bon appetit !

UPDATE: I've been chided for implying that quiche is hard to make. It's not, really, but it is time-consuming. Also, I just found out that regular quiche with a pie crust is about 200 calories more per serving.