The Perfect Frugal Quiche

When I have cheese in my fridge that is threatening to dry out or go mouldy, I pop it into the freezer for a future quiche.

My mom, who is my mentor in the lazy-gourmet-cookery department, taught me to make blender quiche, and I never make it any other way.

Quiche is a great way to use up leftovers. It freezes well, and plus I love it. I usually make a couple at a time. One to eat, and one to freeze.

But there are a couple of things that you need to do to make a really good quiche.

Prune Danish's 3 Rules of Quiche-making

1. Don't use too many eggs. If you put in too many eggs, your quiche will turn out rubbery, instead of creamy.

2. Precook your crust before pouring the quiche mixture in. It keeps the crust from getting soggy.

3. Do not use cream in your quiche. Use regular milk. The cream will make your quiche heavy, sometimes waxy tasting, and adds too much fat.

Perfect, Frugal Blender Quiche

Ingredients

3 cups milk (about) use as much as you need to fill your crust
2 eggs (3 if you use 4 cups of milk)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup of cheese - feel free to experiment - I usually use leftover bits
1 onion, diced and cooked until soft
1/2 cup of whatever vegetables you like in your quiche (I like brocoli, spinach, mushrooms, cauliflower, asparagus)
leftover cooked bacon ham or chicken cubed or crumbled (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

For the Crust

When I lived in Canada, I used to buy prepared pie shells. They are not available here in Argentina as far as I know. Now I use a quiche crust recipe from Recipezaar, which is much less expensive, and WAY yummier.

Making the quiche

1. Put the prepared quiche crust in to a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. (you can prepare and freeze the uncooked crust for later use).

2. Toss the milk, eggs cheese and cornstarch plus salt and pepper to taste into your blender and process for a few seconds. No need to grate the cheese. The blender will handle this for you.

3. In a pot or frying pan, cook the onions, and any vegetables that should be cooked until tender (like cauliflower, asparagus or broccoli) in a little butter, oil or leftover bacon fat.

NOTE: DO NOT use more than 3 eggs for this recipe or your quiche will turn rubbery. The addition of cornstarch will keep the mixture from separating and getting watery. You do not need to use cream or even full fat milk to make a creamy gourmet quiche. The right proportion of eggs and milk will make it creamy- and much healthier than many quiche recipes.

4. Once you have prepared and baked your crust, pour the onions and vegetables into the bottom of the crust, then pour the milk mixture from the blender over top.

5. Put it in to a 350 degree oven and bake until the top is golden.

Delicious warm or cold.

Freezer tip: Quiche freezes very well. If you cut the quiche before freezing, you can separate the pieces with a little waxed paper so you can take out individual servings as you need them. Be sure to wrap the quiche well before freezing.