Quiche with Mushrooms and Fontina Cheese

Quiche to me is the combination of a savory pie crust filled with a frittata – excusez moi to the great food definition masters out there. But it actually is!

It is a delicious custard-filled with vegetables and your favorite cheese or combination of cheeses and all this deliciousness is surrounded by a pie crust. What’s not to love?

There is only one complication about making quiche … deciding what to fill it up with!

Quiche is like a frittata also in the sense that they help you use a lot of leftovers taking space in your refrigerator. Like that open container of creme fraiche, the leftover sour cream from taco night, those herbs laying around from turkey burgers, and so on.

Let me tell you it is also a great dish for brunch and to entertain when having friends over. As a matter of fact, I love it for lunch or even dinner!

It had been a while since I made quiche and also since I last had fontina. Then I went to the grocery store and that beautiful square of fontina cheese was staring at me, so I decided to buy it, along with some mushrooms, pie crust and leeks. I have absolutely no self-control when I am hungry in the grocery store!

So I made this quiche and it turned out so good I had to post about it.

Also, I have this pie dish I had been wanting to use for a couple of months and this was the perfect occasion to give it a try!

There’s nothing hard about making pie crust and it is absolutely delicious to make your own. My mom makes the BEST pie crust. It is very buttery and flaky, simply divine! But honestly, if you’re not in the mood of kneading, flouring and cleaning, there are a lot of amazing alternatives for store-bought pie crust. The one I used, you just have to unroll it and place it in the pie dish, that’s it!

I like to blind bake it first – as you should with all wet fillings. Otherwise, your crust will be soggy. This is very easy, just pinch the bottom of the pie crust with a fork – to prevent it from rising and bake it covered with aluminum foil then place some beans on top of the foil for weight and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil and the beans and bake for another 5 minutes. This is to dry the pie crust and prepare it for the filling.

While the crust is in the oven you can start working on your filling.

I sauté some mushrooms with leeks and shallots and poured a little wine just for flavor.

Then beat the eggs with some herbs, creme freiche, sour cream, a pinch of nutmeg and start layering your quiche. Half an hour later you will be the happiest person just waiting to enjoy this amazing combination of fluffy eggs, with delicious herbs and mushrooms and a delicately crunchy crust! I guess you can tell that quiche is one of my weaknesses.

You can use whatever ratio between eggs and milk you prefer. It all depends on how dense you like your quiche. I don’t like to use a lot of milk in my recipes just to make them lighter, especially if I am using cheese. But you can use 1/2 cup of milk per egg if you want a more custardy texture. Keep in mind the size of your mold though before making this decision and make sure it will fit in it.

I get excited the moment I begin to smell the aroma emanating from the oven! Imagine how hard it is for me to cut it and take the photos!

Here’s the recipe.

Quiche with Mushrooms and Fontina Cheese

Serves 6 - 10.4 inches pie dish

Ingredients

12 oz of cremini or bella mushrooms

1 cup of fontina cheese, shredded

5 eggs

1/2 cup of milk

1 medium to large leek, chopped (close to 2 cups)

1 shallot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1/4 cup of white wine (optional)

1 tsp of fresh thyme

2 tbs of creme fraiche

1 tbs of sour creme (you can substitute with an additional tbs of creme fraiche)

1 tbs of fresh chives, chopped

1 tbs of olive oil

1 tbs of ghee or clarified butter – you can use regular butter

a dash of freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit.

Unroll pie crust and place into the pie mold. Push with the back of a cup and press against the mold. Pinch all over the bottom of the crust lightly with a fork (to prevent the crust from rising while baking). Cover the crust with aluminum foil and place in the oven on the medium rack. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil from the pie crust and bake for 5 minutes until the crust is dry. Set aside and let it cool before filling.

Heat olive oil and butter at medium heat in a medium skillet and add the chopped leek. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir in the shallot. Add 1/2 of the tsp of fresh thyme and mix. Cook until the leek starts to get translucent.

Add the mushrooms, add another pinch of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are lightly browned. Add the wine (if using) and increase the heat and stir until wine has evaporated and set aside.

Beat the eggs, add salt, black pepper, nutmeg, chives, add the milk, the remaining thyme, milk, creme fraiche and sour cream.

Start layering at the bottom of the pie crust 1/2 cup of cheese and 1/2 the mushrooms, then add the remaining cheese and finish adding the remaining mushrooms. Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust, stir a little to ensure even coverage.

I shredded some parmesan cheese on top but it is completely optional.

Place in the medium rack in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the center is set or when you insert a wooden pin in the center comes out dry.

Let it rest for about 8-10 minutes before serving.

Notes

If you using a 9 inch dish you can subtract one egg and use 8 oz of mushrooms instead of 12 oz.

If you see that the crust is getting too golden or toasty and the custard is not ready then cover the edges of the quiche and bake for a few minutes. Keep in mind that the quiche will continue to cook while it rest before you cut it.

Quiche with Mushrooms and Fontina Cheese