Quiche is one of the ultimate brunch foods. It’s pretty healthy. There’s no shortage of fat (cream and cheese) and I wasn’t very light handed with the salt on this one either. That being said, each slice is packed full of protein and nutrients from the kale, mushrooms and other veg, so I’ll take it. It’s also great if you’re lazy and frugal, which I happen to be a lot of the time.

This quiche takes an hour, right on the dot. Throw in whatever veggies you want, cook them down on the stove for a few minutes, and stick it in the oven. I was doing a fridge clean-out and had some on-the-edge-of-being-bad kale, cream, eggs, onions that had grown tentacles, and a few other mismatched items. I can say in entire honesty that this is one of the best things I have ever cooked in my life. I KNOW it’s a little cheap to use pre-made pie crust, but if you want something quick, easy and guaranteed to turn out, this is your best bet.

I made one of these on the weekend and it was tough to keep leftovers around for lunch, but it makes a great quick-and-easy lunch that you can eat warm or cold and fills you up.

I wanted to base my recipe from a highly-rated source, but most other recipes I saw used way more cheese, meat, veggies I didn’t have, etc. The only thing I would suggest sticking to are ratios and cooking times.

Sidenote: I used whipping cream which is super heavy, but it turned out really, really well. If you want to get a bit heart-healthier, opt for a lighter version and cut out some of the cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 head garlic, minced
• 1 cup white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 cup fresh kale, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. freshly ground thyme
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 5 ounces of grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 slice of provolone, cut into the shape of your choice
• 1 pre-made pie crust shell in a tin

Method

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add in yellow and red onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Stir in kale. Turn up the heat a notch and pour in the white wine. Add in the cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, then lower the heat down again and let the veggies simmer for 5 minutes until most of the liquids have evaporated.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and remove the pie shell from the freezer. Beat eggs, cream, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper together until light and fluffy. Stir in mozzarella, parmesan, and vegetable mixture. Pour the egg mixture into your pie crust—I used a ladle to make sure I didn’t get any spill-over. Fill up your pie shell as much as it will fit, place your provolone slice in the centre, and pop it in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes until the top is lightly golden and bubbly, and a knife can be inserted and pulled out clean. Let rest for 5 minutes, cut into even slices, and serve.

This quiche re-heats amazingly, so you can make it ahead and take it for lunch, or make it the day before a big brunch.