QUICHE. What is it, exactly? It's a savory, open-faced French tart with a flaky pastry crust filled with an egg custard, cream, and various savory additions like cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables.

Quiche has origins in the Medieval German region of Lothringen (modern-day Lorraine), France, and is a quintessential part of French gastronomy. Its name comes from the Alsatian word küchen, meaning "cake" or "tart". While most famously associated with French cuisine, it's a versatile dish that's hit mainstream meal-time traffic, and can be served hot, warm, or cold for brunch, lunch, or dinner.

Typical quiche add-ins include for this scrumptious dish include Gruyère, cheddar, feta, goat cheese, or Swiss cheese. And bacon (as in Quiche Lorraine), ham, sausage, smoked salmon, or crab are favorite meat add-ins. It's common to find spinach, mushrooms, leeks, onions, asparagus and broccoli folded into the custard as well. You'll notice, also, that most recipes call for basil, dill, thyme, or chives.

It's a pretty food and is often served for brunch, either as one large tart or in individual mini tart pans. When our kiddos were home, I'd often make several and serve it for supper. They liked this because the leftovers worked well in their school lunches the next day. It tastes just as good cold as it does warm.

The thing about quiche, though, is its dependence on an ideal buttery, flaky pie crust. No big deal, if you've mastered the art of crust-making. But if you're still learning and/or struggling to make the ideal crust, then quiche can be a little intimidating.

Here's where Erin, of www.wellplated.com comes to the rescue. She developed a recipe for CRUSTLESS quiche that is really good. She says, "After several tries, I found that with the right ratio, I could make a crustless quiche without heavy cream, swapping a touch of half-and-half instead. The quiche still tasted luscious and rich, just as any proper quiche (with or without crust) should.

"Plus the notable time (and calories) you save by not adding a crust makes this dish an appealing option for a healthy lunch or light dinner too! Without a crust, the flavor of the filling steals the show."

So, a little healthier, a little easier, and deliciousness at the same time. That's a good recipe. See what you think:

Erin's Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:

6 large eggs
2/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon style mustard (optional)
1 pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 cups of mix-ins of choice See below for suggestions and ingredient notes for a broccoli bacon version if you are a little under or over 1 1/2 cups, that’s OK
2/3 cup grated gruyére cheese or swap fontina, sharp cheddar, or smoked mozzarella
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh chives

MIX-INS
Cooked crumbled bacon
Chopped and sautéed broccoli
Caramelized onions
Cubed leftover ham
Roasted vegetables roughly chopped

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a deep 9-inch pie dish with nonstick spray.

Prepare any mix-ins (see recipe notes for a broccoli bacon version and the blog post above for more suggestions).

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, half-and-half, salt, pepper, mustard, and nutmeg.

Scatter the mix-ins evenly across the bottom of the prepared pie dish.

Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Carefully pour the egg mixture into the dish. Place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the chives over the top.

Bake the quiche on the baking sheet until the center is set, about 35 minutes. It should look puffed and golden at the edges, and when a thin, sharp knife is inserted in the center, the center should be cooked through without visible liquid. Let cool a few minutes. Cut into big wedges. Enjoy warm.

NOTES

For the Broccoli Bacon version shown in this post: Chop 4 slices of thick-cut bacon into bite-sized pieces. Cook in a skillet over medium low heat, until the pieces are crisp and the fat has rendered, about 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a towel-lined plate. Discard all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from the skillet. Add 2 cups of small-chopped broccoli florets and 1 small, very thinly sliced red or yellow onion. Sauté until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Use in the quiche as directed.

TO STORE: Refrigerate quiche in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days.

TO REHEAT: Rewarm leftovers in a pie dish in the oven at 350 degrees F.

TO FREEZE: You can freeze a crustless quiche. Wrap the quiche tightly in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.