Quiche Lorraine Recipe with Spinach, Mushrooms and Prosciutto

French breakfast is not just croissants and French toast. As much as I like sweet pastry for breakfast, especially French toast roll ups, some days require proteins. When I know I won’t have time to have lunch soon, I choose to eat eggs for breakfast. Scrambled eggs with leeks and mushrooms or other veggies are the quickest option. But, when I have more time I like to prepare quiche with spinach, mushrooms, cheese and prosciutto. This quiche Lorraine recipe is easy to make but requires more time than your usual breakfast.

You can make the crust the night before, but you will still need around 50 minutes for baking.

However, you can keep quiche Lorraine for at least three to five days in the fridge. Quiche Lorraine tastes nice when you reheat it in the microwave for a minute or so, but you can also reheat it in the oven or eat it cold. 

How to make quiche Lorraine

The most important thing to learn about quiche is to make quiche crust. When it comes to mixing eggs, milk, cheese and veggies, it can be easily tweaked. If you like more cheesy quiche, you can add more milk and cream cheese. Those who like eggs can even add more eggs. This quiche lorraine recipe calls for an optimal number of eggs, so the flavor is not too strong but you can still taste the eggs.

The choice of other ingredients for quiche Lorraine is up to you. I like to put mushrooms and spinach or broccoli, but red peppers are also nice. If you like leeks or spring onions, you can put them instead. With or without ham or prosciutto, it is up to you. What I like about quiche Lorraine is that you can combine ingredients you like or you have in the fridge, and you can make different combinations every time.

Quiche Lorraine recipe

For the crust:

• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cup of flour
• 80 g butter, not melted
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp ice cold water 

For the filling:

• 4 eggs
• 50g cream cheese
• 250 ml milk
• 1 cup of fresh spinach
• ⅓ cup of mushrooms, chopped
• 5 slices of cured ham or prosciutto
• A few slices of Gouda cheese or similar type
• Pepper and salt to taste
  

PREPARATION:

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, salt and butter cubes. Use your hands to squeeze the butter and knead it with the flour.
2. Add one egg and water, combine everything well with the spoon and knead a bit more with your hands.
3. Shape the dough for the quiche, again using your hands. You need a baking pan that is typically used for quiche, tart, American pie. 
4. After you placed the dough in the pan, leave it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
5. Beat the eggs, add milk, pepper, salt, cream cheese and combine well. 
6. Pour the mixture over the crust. Put the chopped mushrooms and spinach, add slices of prosciutto and cheese. 
7. Bake for 50 min at 175 degrees Celsius. 

How do you know when the quiche is done? 

Quiche shouldn’t be over-baked, it actually tastes better when it is under-baked. When you see that the edges are set but there is some jiggling in the center, that is OK. After a few minutes, when quiche cools off that central part will be soft and creamy but not raw. You can also use a knife to check if quiche is done. If the knife is clean when you pull it out, that means quiche is done. Also the color of quiche can tell you if it is done. It should be dark yellow to golden but not too brown. However, have in mind that the color of the quiche also depends on the ingredients you put in it.

What’s the best cheese to use in quiche? 

I personally like to use Gouda, emmental, trappista cheese but I noticed that cheddar cheese is widely used in many quiche recipes. You can also use mozzarella, goat cheese, feta or combine various cheeses. Think about other ingredients you want to put in quiche and then use the cheese that goes the best with those ingredients. 

Do you prebake quiche crust? 

Most quiche Lorraine recipes call for baking a quiche crust. As for this quiche Lorraine recipe, you don’t need to bake the crust separately, just put all the ingredients and bake it together. It will be crunchy but at the same time it will melt in your mouth thanks to butter. And it won’t be raw, because the crust is not so thick. Of course, if you prefer to prebake quiche crust, you can do that with this quiche Lorraine recipe as well.

How long should quiche rest? 

Once the quiche is done you can either leave it in the oven, so it cools off slower. That method is okay if you don’t want to eat it straight ahead. If you want to eat quiche immediately, leave it to rest at least 10 minutes at room temperature.

You can keep quiche in the fridge for up to 5 days, but it is best to eat it in the first 3 days.