Eat your broccoli. I love broccoli. Eat your cauliflower. I love cauliflower. I always have. When my mom would put a drizzle of cheddar cheese sauce on either, the rest of my dinner became irrelevant. All I wanted was the side-dish. Every now and then I fall prey to a craving for broccoli and/or cauliflower drizzled with cheddar cheese sauce, and, because once it's on the table dinner is still irrelevant, for that reason, I long ago decided to team them up together in a quiche and serve it as a main dish. Back in the 1970's, when I lived alone in an apartment, I'd make one on a Sunday morning and take a piece to work for lunch every day. After I got married, I'd make it on evenings when my husband was traveling or the kids weren't coming home for dinner.
As it turned out, the husband & kids loved it too.
Saying more is wasting words, so, here's the recipe:
1 7 1/2-ounce boxed, refrigerated pie pastry, at room temperature, fitted into a 9" quiche dish and decoratively edged
8 ounces finely-shredded Colby-Jack cheese blend
4 ounces diced yellow or sweet onion (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons Wondra Quick-Mixing Flour for Sauce and Gravy
8-10 ounces each, lightly-steamed or blanched, fresh or frozen broccoli and cauliflower florets (about 2 generous cups each)
1 1/4 cups heavy or whipping cream
3 jumbo eggs
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse-grind black pepper
~Step 1. In a large bowl place the finely-shredded Colby-Jack cheese, diced onion and Wondra flour. Using two forks or two spoons, toss, as you would a salad, until onions and cheese are evenly coated in the flour. Add the cooked broccoli and cauliflower florets and toss again.
~ Step 2. Spoon veggie-and-cheese mixture into prepared pie pastry. Distribute mixture evenly throughout, and, mound it towards the center, but, do not compress or press down on it. You want it to remain light and airy.
~Step 3. In a 2-cup measuring container, use a fork to whisk together the cream, eggs, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Using a back and forth motion, slowly drizzle the cream-and-egg mixture over and around the surface of the quiche. Go very slowly, so as to give the liquid all the time it needs to slowly drizzle down into the cracks and crevasses of the veggie mixture.
~ Step 4. Bake on center rack of 325º oven for 60 minutes, stopping to give the quiche a quarter-turn every 15 minutes so it browns evenly. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack 30-60 minutes prior to slicing and serving warm or at room temperature. Leftovers reheat great in the microwave (which makes lunch 45-seconds away), but, do not freeze well.
Served hot, warm or at room temperature...
... every bite is full of veggies & loaded w/cheese.
Perhaps the best worst fabulous quiche photo ever:
Broccoli, Cauliflower & Cheddar Main-Dish Quiche: Recipe yields 8 hearty servings.
Special Equipment List: 9" quiche dish; cutting board; chef's knife; 2 forks or 2 spoons; 2-cup measuring container; wire cooling rack
Cook's Note: If it's straight-up full-throttle cheddar cheese sauce you want for your steamed broccoli or cauliflower, trust me, ~ My Basic Cheddar Cheese Sauce for Vegetables ~ is not going to let you down. As a mom, it got our three boys to eat their vegetables!
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2020)
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