Breakfast, lunch, AND dinner! That is the answer to when is the best time to serve this Gluten Free Broccoli Cheddar Quiche.
One of my all-time favorite movies is Girls Just Want to Have Fun. It’s an absolute classic and I will argue with anyone that dares to disagree. Although, if you are a guy, I will let your disagreement slide…just this once.
I love this movie mostly because it is filled with all sorts of make you giggle, laugh until your belly aches, eat all the snacks you want, drool over cute boys in tight 80’s jeans, chick flick fun. But, aside from all of those persuading factors for enjoying this movie, I partly love the film strictly based off its title.
Girls Just Want to Have FUN!!!
It’s true. We do.
I just got back from an epic island hopping vacation to Kauai. I had recently been there with my family and had an absolute blast, so I was a little leery about how much I would enjoy it a second time around. Let me tell you, there is no limit on adventure when you have the perfect group of mamas to share the scenery with. No limit at all!
From the moment we landed on that gorgeous island, we had a mission and a motto: “Can’t stop. Won’t stop.”
We literally were on the go for four days straight. Our itinerary included collecting sand at Glass Sand Beach, jumping off the rock at Shipwrecks Beach, hiking the Na Pali coast, kayaking the Wailua River, snorkeling at Poipu Beach, and driving the Waimea Canyon.
Guys, we did it ALL!!!
And in between all of our major activities we found time to eat ice cream at Lappert’s, enjoy fresh Ahi wraps at a local fish market, sun tan on the beach, climb fences to sneak into hot tubs (since we could never find our own), and catch the sunset on the beach. It was all quite magical.
Besides enjoying the island life, it was relaxing to sleep with peace and quiet, lounge on the couch while watching TV at night, and cook without any little kids sticking fingers in my food prep.
One of the gals that joined us on the trip is a food lover like myself. We were excited to cook together and we each took an evening to make a meal for the rest of the ladies. I made my winning lemon garlic chicken and broccoli pasta the first night, and she cooked up some steaks our last night in. Both meals were fabulous!
Another friend of mine was joking one morning that she was ready for breakfast in bed. She yelled out her order for me to cook her an omelet. Even though it was a joke (we didn’t even have eggs so I couldn’t have made one even if I wanted to), my mind went right to wishing I could dish her up a piece of this Gluten Free Broccoli Cheddar Quiche that I had made the week before.
You guys, this quiche. All I can say is: Breakfast Brunch Lunch Dinner EVERY meal is served!
Seriously, you could eat this quiche anytime of the day. It compliments most every meal. You can also eat it warm, cold, or at room temperature depending on your temperature preference.
AND it was relatively easy to make. The filling was hands-down simple. All you do is whisk together some eggs with a few ingredients. But, the crust. I was surprised how easy the crust was to make.
My mother-in-law was here a few weeks ago and bought some all-purpose gluten free flour. It was Bob’s Red Mill brand and it was the 1:1 baking flour (NOT the all-purpose flour blend that contains garbanzo bean flour). Anyway, it worked quite well for making this pie crust. My whole family loved it.
I’m not going to lie, gluten free pie crust is a big finicky. In fact, the entire overhang of the crust broke off when I transferred the crust into the pie tin. But, all you have to do it re-piece it back together and you’re good to go. The best thing about gluten free dough is that it can never be overworked. There is NO gluten to make it tough. So work away!
Now I added a half cup of Gruyere cheese to this quiche because I love the sharp flavor of that cheese paired with an extra sharp cheddar, but you could also use straight cheddar for all of your shredded cheese in this recipe. Either way, this filling turns out with such a perfect consistency; not too eggy and not too custardy…just perfect.
You don’t even have to cook the broccoli ahead of time. It softens just the right amount with the time that it cooks in the oven. And instead of sauteing onion and garlic beforehand, I just opted to use onion and garlic powders in place of the real deal. The flavor turned out lovely, so I don’t even regret the shortcut there.
I love that this meal can be made hours in advance and left on the counter until dinner for a fabulous weeknight meal. There is something downright fancy about eating quiche at the dinner table…well that is until your 4 year old squeals, “Egg pie!!!”, picks up her piece, and eats it like a pizza. That makes it slightly less sophisticated. But hey, it was still enjoyed by all.
What time of the day do you enjoy eating quiche?
- For the crust:
- 1⅔ cup quality gluten free all purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill 1:1 baking flour)*
- ½ cup salted butter, chilled (1 stick)
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4-5 tablespoons cold water
- For the filling:
- 7 eggs plus 1 yolk (you will use the egg white later), beaten
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 dashes cayenne
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- Extras:
- 1 beaten egg white to brush on crust
- sour cream
- chopped cherry tomatoes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin making crust by adding flour, sugar and salt to a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add chilled butter in cubes and pulse to evenly disperse until butter is size of a grain of rice. Transfer mixture to a small mixing bowl. Make a well in center of flour mixture.
- Add beaten egg and 4 tablespoons of water to center well. With a fork, mix and combine until dough begins to come together. Add an additional tablespoon of water if needed. Use your hands and fingers to mix dough together to form a ball. Knead dough in mixing bowl until smooth and combined. Lightly flour work surface (it helps to use a silpat mat as your surface). Place ball of dough on top and lightly flour top of dough. Gently roll out dough in all directions to form a circle. If dough comes apart, just press back together with fingers. You can also wet your fingers when pressing dough together, but try to limit water use.
- Roll dough out to about ⅛" thick, dusting with more flour as needed to avoid sticking. Carefully roll dough halfway up onto rolling pin and transfer to a 9" pie pan. Gentle press dough into edges of the pan. Cut all but ¾" overhang of dough. Fold edges under and crimp and press with fingers.**
- Bake crust at 350 degrees for 12 minutes and remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees and begin making filling as crust slightly cools.
- To make filling, whisk together 7 eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add salt, onion powder, ground mustard, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, and half and half. Whisk until well combined. Fold in shredded sharp cheddar cheese and Gruyere cheese with a spatula. Add in broccoli florets and mix. Pour mixture over crust. Beat an egg white and brush along edges of pie crust.
- Bake quiche at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until center is set and knife inserted into center of pie comes out clean.
- Let quiche cool for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack before serving. Top with sour cream and diced cherry tomatoes.
**If your crust comes apart, do not be discouraged. Just piece it back together and crimp it on the edges. It will bake just fine!
