Recipe: Gluten-Free Spinach and Cheddar Quiche

When Paula Deen was making something similar to this quiche on TV recently, I was busy and not really paying much attention to the details of the recipe. I knew Paula’s crustless quiche called for one pack of frozen chopped spinach, four eggs, two cups of cheddar cheese and some amount of Parmesan cheese. That was all I caught regarding ingredients and measurements for Paula’s recipe so I made up the rest based on what I had in the fridge. I also made a gluten-free crust for the quiche using a crust recipe from Carol Fenster’s fabulous new cookbook “100 gluten-free Recipes” which I’ll be reviewing (and giving away a copy of) on this website soon. Though I’ve not made it before, I’ve heard good things about this gluten and dairy-free pie crust recipe.

Spinach and Cheddar Quiche

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 pk. frozen chopped spinach
• 1 ¼ cup of shredded mild cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
• ¼ skim milk
• ¼ cup non fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 bunch of scallions
• ¼ t. dry mustard
• pinch of salt
• gluten-free pie crust

Instructions:

1. Saute finely chopped scallions in a tiny bit of regular olive oil
2. Put onions aside and let cool.
3. Whisk eggs in mixing bowl for several minutes.
4. Add drained (& dried) spinach to the eggs and mix well.
5. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
6. Pour into quiche crust (or greased baking pan if not using crust, I like to use a spring form pan for a nice presentation)
7. Bake in 400 degree oven on bottom rack in oven for 15 minutes.
8. Move pan to middle rack and cover with foil (do not wrap foil tightly around pan edge) Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Let sit for at least five minutes before cutting to serve.

For the perfect weekend brunch, serve quiche with gluten-free bacon or sausage and fresh fruit. If you want to go all out, make some mini gluten-free muffins to accompany the meal. I like to make batches of those to keep in the freezer. To enjoy as them needed, I defrost them on the counter overnight and slowly reheat them in the toaster oven. For a variation on the quiche, you can add sauteed mushrooms (or your favorite veggies) and/or bacon to the filling. Using heavy cream instead of skim milk and yogurt offers a richer taste – as well as more fat and calories.

You can always make a crustless quiche, but that’s really egg or breakfast casserole – not quiche. Even a fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants cook like me knows that true quiche calls for a crust. Use any ready-made gluten-free crust if you don’t have the time (or desire) to make your own. The crust recipe from Carol’s Fenster’s book (that I modified to be a cornmeal crust) turned out fabulously in both taste and texture. Gluten-free Pantry pie crust mix makes a lovely quiche crust as long as you omit the sugar. I usually make my quiche crust using the plain pie crust recipe from the Pamela’s Products website, omitting the sugar.

Going out for brunch on the weekend used to be one of our favorite things to do with friends. Even with the amazing gluten-free dining options in our area, few places are knocking our socks off with their gluten-free brunch offerings. To me, brunch means French toast (or buttermilk pancakes), quiche, melt in your mouth biscuits and fresh, seasonal fruit. Of those things, only the fruit is naturally gluten-free. The other items are generally off limits to the gluten-free crowd in most areas.

At some finer hotels and high end places you can request special things like gluten-free scones or pancakes, but you are going to have to get dressed up, tip a valet parking attendant and fork over a lot of cash for the experience. Instead, we usually opt to stay in and make our own brunch. Sharing delicious gluten-free food with good friends makes for the perfect weekend meal at our house.