I love breakfast. I hate mornings. See my dilemma? I frequently tell my coworkers that I live 18 minutes away from work, and I roll out of bed about 20 minutes before start time. It’s no wonder that I love my on-the-fly microwave burritos, which I can microwave in those two spare minutes between getting out of bed and leaving for work. But on weekends, I love trying new breakfast recipes that require extra prep and cook time. Sometimes those breakfasts end up being my lunch, by the time I get out of bed and get to cooking. But there’s never a bad time to eat breakfast!
One of my favorite special breakfast meals is quiche. This classic combination of ham and broccoli came to me from Belle of the Kitchen, though there are probably thousands of variants floating around on Pinterest. I love this simple recipe so much that I doubled it. I made this decision for a few reasons – one, I love having leftovers for breakfast throughout the week. And two, pie crusts come in packs of two! What was I supposed to do with the second one if I only made one quiche?!
just think about slicing into that crispy cheesy crust!
I’ve listed two methods for preparing this easy quiche. Before you get up early to whip this quiche together on the fly, you must realize that this is not a 10 minute breakfast. Prep work (dicing, slicing, sautéing and cleaning) takes about 20-30 minutes. And with a baking time between 35-45 minutes, your total breakfast-wait-time is now over an hour. So if you’re in no rush, feel free to use method number 1. However, if you want to skip straight to the baking, you can use method #2 to prep as much as possible the night before. Either way, I hope you enjoy this tasty breakfast recipe as much as I do!
Method #1: for the total morning person
First, take the pie crusts out of the freezer and let them begin to thaw. I set them on my stovetop while the oven pre-heats to help this process along a bit. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Begin your prep work by shredding the cheese, dicing the onion and cutting the broccoli into small florets. Open the ham packages and drain the excess liquid.
broccoli florets should be bite sized – but they will cook down some when sauted
In a large skillet, melt the butter on a medium heat. Add in the garlic and diced onion and cook for about 5 minutes – the onions should become translucent and slightly softened.
translucent onions are happy onions!
Add the broccoli to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes, until the florets are wilted and softened.
cook until broccoli are just starting to soften
Divide the onion and broccoli mixture evenly between the two pie crusts, then sprinkle one package of ham over each quiche.
layer the veggies into the bottom of the crust
Sprinkle half the grated cheese over each quiche (you can save some for topping after baking, if you want!)
top with ham and cheese
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until well beaten. Add in the milk, salt, pepper and dry mustard and whisk well to combine. Pour half the liquid over each quiche, making sure to evenly coat the fillings.
finally, pour the egg mixture over the quiche.
Place the quiche on a baking sheet (to prevent spillage and messy oven cleanup!) and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the eggs are set. You can check using the toothpick method, or you can jiggle the baking sheet. If there’s no wobble, the eggs are set!
Let the quiche rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Let the quiche rest before slicing in!
Method #2: for the night owl
The only differences between the first method and this one is prep work. Instead of the morning of, take these steps the night before your breakfast to cut about 30 minutes off your “when’s breakfast ready?!” time. Trust me, your grumbly tummy will thank you.
The night before: Dice the onion and broccoli and drain the ham. Place the drained ham in a Tupperware container and return to the fridge. Sauté the onion and broccoli florets as above, and after cooling, remove them to a separate Tupperware container. Do the same for the grated cheese (I find a Ziploc bag works great for shredded cheeses). In a large Tupperware bowl, prepare the eggs by whisking them just as above. Place eggs, broccoli and cheese in fridge overnight.
Move the pie crusts from the freezer to the fridge to let them thaw overnight.
Place the pie crusts on a baking sheet in case the eggs overflow in the oven.
The morning of: Prepare the quiche just as above – layer the broccoli and onion mixture, then the ham, then cheese and finally the egg mixture (don’t forget to whisk the eggs again before pouring, they will have settled overnight).
more ham is always better!
Bake according to the directions above, and enjoy!
- 2 frozen pie crusts, thawed
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large sweet Vidalia onion
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
- 1 medium head fresh broccoli, chopped into small florets
- 2 (8 oz) packages cubed cooked ham
- 3 cups (¾ lb) Gouda cheese, grated
- 6 eggs
- 1 ½ cup milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon pepper
- ¾ teaspoon dry mustard
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Allow pie crusts to thaw while preparing the quiche filling
- Prep by grating the cheese and chopping the onion and broccoli. Drain excess liquid from the ham
- In a large skillet, melt butter with diced onion and garlic. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or until onions become translucent
- Add broccoli florets and sauté another 5 minutes or until broccoli has softened
- Divide onion and broccoli mixture into each pie crust. Sprinkle one package of ham on top of each quiche
- Sprinkle half the cheese over each quiche
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs until well beaten. Add the milk, salt, pepper and dry mustard and whisk until well incorporated. Divide the liquid between each pie crust, being sure not to over-fill
- Place quiche on a baking sheet and bake for 34-45 minutes, until eggs are set (you can check this by toothpick method, or jiggling the baking sheet to check for wobble!)
- Let cool for 15 minutes before serving
- Enjoy!
