But what about that crust-making problem preventing quiche from entering the quick dinner status?
A couple months ago, I read about this very decadent kale quiche on Serious Eats. I ran immediately to the store and I bought a small wedge of Gruyere, then I made it as written and savored every creamy, kale laden bite for dinners and lunches. The most remarkable thing about that recipe (written by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt) was that it was marvelously crust-less! Two slices of fresh bread torn into ragged breadcrumbs by the sharp teeth of a food processor go down in a pie plate as a bottom layer, and in an instant, easy quiche is born without any bother of making a proper crust. Plain bread can stand in for crust in any variation on the classic quiche – which at this stage of the game seems more like a strata to me.
Historically, the strata is defined as a dish served for breakfast and is layered with either sweet or savory fillings including slices of bread or thick cut cubes of bread. It is essentially billed as a bread pudding with more custard than bread – and the use of fresh bread crumbs as a layering ingredient in quiche leads me to think this dish needs a new name, and a new place in your kitchen for any meal of the day due to the time it saves.
I made this Strata-Quiche with beautiful, in-season asparagus that I tossed with salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted at 350 in my tiny toaster oven for 15 minutes while I seared the portabello mushroom (it was the size of my hand) slices in a cast iron skillet to draw out the moisture. You could certainly substitute any vegetables and add in any number of popular quiche-like ingredients like tomatoes, spinach, leeks or red bell peppers. Remember that often the best flavors for dishes like this may already be lurking in your fridge disguised as leftovers. Mindfully consider a good cheese and fresh herb paring, and you are in business.
