In addition to being my regular Thursday post, this is a contest entry for a contest that I'm super excited about. All the entrants I've seen so far on the SteemKitchen discord are amazing, and I'm very proud to be among them.
My grandmother used to make this dish all the time when we'd spend the weekend at her place. It can easily serve ~6 people, and the leftovers are super great if you don't eat the whole thing in one sitting. A lot of quiche is mostly egg and cheese, but not my grandmother's - it's stuffed full of meat and veggies, super hearty, and has become one of my favorite breakfast dishes of all time now.
You'll Need The Following;
- 1 1/2 pounds meat of choice
- 24oz small curd cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 oz fresh spinach
- 6 eggs
- 1 pie crust
A few notes - the meat I used here is andouille sausage, but my grandmother liked a breakfast sausage that came from a local butchery near here that I've never found anything like anywhere else. I've used other breakfast sausages and Italian sausage before too, they work just as well. If your meat is relatively tasteless by comparison like ground beef, pork or turkey you might want to add some spices to them or cook them up in garlic and onion or something.
My grandmother's recipe actually called for ricotta cheese, but I find that to be not only expensive by comparison but also bland tasting. Sour cream was a bad idea, as I learned a few years back, but cottage cheese seems to be the perfect median of flavor and texture. I like it small just because, but large curd works too.
And my grandmother always added more vegetables - onion, peppers, mushrooms, all that jazz. I'm honestly not a fan of the onion and peppers, and since I was making this for both my roommate and myself and he has a mushroom allergy I had to leave those out but if that's your jam feel free to add them in.
Even having customized the recipe to my personal tastes I still call it my grandmother's recipe because she made it for us for a long time and taught me how to make it when I was old enough, and eating it still reminds me of her and the days I spent at her place way out in the country.
And now, on to the making of this amazing food!
First thing's first, as always - preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then take your meat and cook it as desired until it's cooked all the way through and you'd basically eat it as is. My sausage had a natural casing I had to remove and had enough spices in it that I didn't have to add anything but if you want to cook your meat with garlic and onions or add other spices you'll want to do that during this stage.
Once your meat is cooked and cooled a little bit, put it into a container big enough to mix with all your other ingredients.
Mix your cottage and mozzarella cheese, spinach and eggs into the meat just straight up as is. If you're adding other vegetables like mushrooms or peppers do that here as well, and additional spices if you want them.
Spray. Your. Pan. I've done this more times than I care to count >.>
Once your pan is sprayed or greased, line it with your pie crust and dump the filling from the last step into it. Toss it into your now heated oven for an hour.
As always with baking test by putting a knife or toothpick or something similar in the middle and make sure it comes out clean. If it doesn't add 10 minutes at a time until it is. Once it's baked all the way through cool a little, slice and serve.
What I really like about this is that the leftovers keep really well in the fridge for a few days and it's so thick (like a deep dish pizza almost) that 1/6 or even 1/8 of this is more than enough to be filling at a meal depending on how much you usually eat. And, as I said before, it really does remind me of my grandmother and all the time I spent at her house when I was younger which is just one more reason to love it :)
Banner was made by me in Photoshop. All other pictures here were taken by me specifically for this post. Outside links are copyright their respective places. I have been a home cook for over a decade, and any questions or comments about this recipe are encouraged!
If you like this content resteems, upvotes and comments are much appreciated <3