Half a tub of mushrooms left in that fridge? Check.

Spinach in there, too (or in the freezer?) Check.

MASSIVELY INCREASED EGG PRODUCTION? CHECK. OMG CHECK.

Going from an egg or two every other day to 5-6 eggs a day once the days stretch out a bit is… alarming sometimes. There are ways to combat this:

• Sell ’em
• Freeze ’em
• Use ’em

We tend to use them as best we can… and the new found love of macaron-ing and curing yolks helps, but does NOT handle them all. Currently our egg skeltor is full and the collection basket has 5 in it from yesterday.

An easy way to get through a bunch of eggs, enjoy them AND save some for later is quiche. Here’s a quick veggie based quiche that uses 8 eggs, gets you two quiches (one for the fridge and one for the freezer) and is prepped in roughly 15-20 minutes. I said EASY, so this is all about using quick fill, frozen ready-made pie shells that can be popped right into the fridge and freezer. This is about knowing what has to get done in a short amount of time and doing it.

QUICKIE SPINACH AND MUSHROOM QUICHE (makes 2)

Ingredients

2 ready made, deep dish, frozen pie shells (9″)

3 tbsp unsalted butter, divided

2 bags of fresh baby spinach, washed (or a brick of frozen chopped, thawed and drained)

10 oz of mushrooms, chopped

1 tbsp fresh rosemary or thyme (I used rosemary as I had it on hand fresh)

2 average shallots, sliced thin (or 1 monster… they’ve been huge at our store lately!)

8 eggs

2 cups milk (or half+half or heavy cream or combo of all of the above depending on level of decadence you want 🙂 )

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne (depending on how you like cayenne … some should go in though even if you don’t want it ‘spicy’ as it rounds out the flavors)

1/8-tsp of nutmeg

3/4 tsp of kosher salt

1 cup of Swiss or Gruyere

1/2 cup of shredded Mozzarella

pinch of black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees to pre-bake the shells
2. Using a fork, prick the inside of each shells (side and bottom)
3. Once oven is to temp, pre-bake shells on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (if they puff in the center it is ok… they should deflate once out of the oven!)
4. As shells pre-bake, melt 1 tbsp butter in pan and sauté shallots on medium high until golden and starting to brown. Set aside.
5. Next, melt 1 tbsp butter in pan. Sauté mushrooms and herbs with a tiny pinch of salt until all moisture is gone. Set aside.
6. Reduce heat under pan to medium, add in final tbsp butter and melt in pan to sauté spinach. It is best to work in handfuls as is won’t all fit in a pan and be near impossible to turn as it cooks. As the spinach cooks down, add another handful and sauté til reduced… once all spinach is cooked, remove and place into large fine mesh sieve over a bowl to drain liquid. Set aside. (If using frozen chopped, make sure it is thawed and drained… you will need to squeeze all the liquid out before using EITHER types of spinach.)
7. Prep your egg mix once your shells are done and other ingredients are cooked. Place eggs, salt, milk, cayenne and nutmeg into spouted bowl and mix with whisk until combined. )I work in two batches. If you have one of those awesome batter bowls with a spout, those work amazing for recipes like this as you can mix the eggs up and then pour right into your built shells! Or a spouted large measuring cup works as well 😉 )
8. Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees
9. Now to build the quiche: layer shallots, then swiss, then mushrooms, then swiss, then spinach (remember to SQUEEZE out any excess liquid first!) then mozzarella … splitting evenly between the two shells. Once layered, pour your egg mixture over each shell until full (just below top of crust.) You might have a little extra, I used this as a quick scramble snack with some fruit as my quiche cooked.
10. Top with a grind or two of black pepper and pop in the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.
11. If your quiches brown up early, you can loosely place a sheet of foil across both of them and continue to bake until done.
12. When done, remove and allow to cool slightly before serving.
13. If freezing, allow to fully cool then wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap and then a double layer of foil. Label with type and date and pop in freezer. If you are not planning on eating for several months, it should also fit into a gallon sized freezer bag. 🙂

I struggled with not making my own crust. I wanted to own this WHOLE quiche… but sometimes we have too much to do in a day…. too many plans, errands, goals, last minute emergencies and well… sometimes we just need a quick recipe that is easy and gets the job done.

This is one of those recipes for me when I’m drowning in eggs. I also love to make egg cups or pickled eggs or soft boiled soy eggs, but with spring coming… I craved quiche. A chilled slice with some veggies for a fast lunch? Sounds perfect!

Sometimes easy is just what you need.

Hope you enjoy!