How to Make Italian Vegetarian Quiche

Quiche has been a mainstay in many kitchens for a number of years. It's not only an inexpensive and easy dish for even the most amateur chef to prepare but it's also versatile enough to lend itself to breakfast, lunch, dinner or an amusing appetizer. You don't have to know anything about making traditional pie crusts -- this one is baked directly in the dish from which it will be served.

Things You'll Need

• An oven
• One 9-inch round ceramic or Pyrex baking dish
• A large mixing bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• One wooden spoon
• One sharp knife
• A cutting board
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups diced Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 2 large fresh mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
• 1/2 bag of baby spinach leaves
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 ounces sliced black olives
• 3 tablespoons garlic and herb breadcraumbs
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Two oven mitts

Instructions

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1. Chop the Swiss cheese into cubes that are slightly larger than dice. When you have cut up enough to equal two cups, set this off to the side.

2. Chop one yellow onion into small pieces until the yield is 1/2 cup. Set this aside.

3. Slice two large, fresh mushrooms into small pieces and set aside.

4. Chop 1/2 bag of baby spinach. (It's easier to buy a bag of prewashed spinach in the produce section of your supermarket than to buy it loose, try to estimate how much you'll need for the recipe, and then spend a lot of time rinsing it.) The most efficient way to chop the spinach is to grab a large handful of leaves at a time, scrunch them up as tightly as you can and slice into 1/2 inch ribbons. When you're done, this is going to look like an extraordinarily high volume of greens. Trust me: once it starts cooking in the egg mixture, it's going to shrink way down and be the perfect amount.

5. Break the three eggs into the mixing bowl and stir them with the spoon until the yolks are nicely blended.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray such as Pam.

7. Shake up the carton of heavy whipping cream before you open it, then slowly pour into the egg mixture and stir.

8. Add the Swiss cheese, the onions, the mushrooms, the spinach leaves, and one drained 2 oz. can of chopped black olives to the eggs and whipping cream. Stir this mixture around, then add the garlic powder, oregano leaves, and Italian seasoning and blend some more.

9. Slowly fold this mixture into the baking dish and evenly sprinkle the garlic/herb breadcrumbs over the top. (This will give your quiche a lovely golden brown color while it is baking.)

10. Bake in oven for 45 minutes. When you remove it from the oven (and I recommend using two oven mitts because it's going to be fairly heavy), allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes prior to slicing. Another easy thing about this quiche is that you can make it several hours before you intend to serve it and then simply reheat it.

Tips & Warnings

• If you'd like a little splash of color in your quiche, you can add a small jar of drained pimentos or chop up one small, firm Roma tomato and add to the mix in Step 8.

• If you don't like chopping onions, check your grocery store for containers of onions that are already diced.

• Gruyere cheese can be substituted for Swiss cheese.

• As a side dish, I recommend a tomato-based cream soup and lots of crunchy garlic bread.

• Leftover quiche makes a wonderful breakfast! Microwave individual slices for 45-60 seconds.

• Fresh mushrooms lend themselves better to this recipe than canned mushrooms.

• Make sure that you buy sliced black olives and not chopped olives. I made the mistake of being the chopped ones once and they just weren't that attractive!

• If you decide to play around with different cheeses, choose one that melts easily. Cheddar, for instance, tends to turn rubbery and clumpy.