A simple and rich quiche stuffed with fresh mushrooms and leeks and baked in a cauliflower crust for a fast and easy recipe the whole family will love for brunch and perfect for the gluten-free diet!
Love quiche? Try my Easy Broccoli and Cheese Quiche.
Can I make this recipe with a traditional pie crust?
Absolutely! Simply pour the filling mixture into a prepared pie crust (remember to pre-bake your quiche pie crust) and bake it up. Delicious and easy!
I make this quiche with a cauliflower crust to give it more nutrition, keep it gluten-free, and ramp up the flavor. Many people are scared off when they hear “cauliflower crust” but don’t be…a cauliflower crust is just as easy as a traditional pie crust. And packs a heck of a lot of nutrition!
The key to a good cauliflower crust is “ricing” the cauliflower in a food processor. They call it ricing because of the size you want the cauliflower to end up as…the size of rice.
To make the Cauliflower Crust (full instructions are in the recipe card, below):
- Process the cauliflower into small bits similar to the size of rice.
- Microwave the cauliflower for 5 minutes, covered.
- Press the liquid out of the cauliflower.
- Combine the cauliflower, eggs, cheese, garlic powder, and salt.
- Press the cauliflower mixture into a pie plate.
- Bake until nicely golden. Let it cool.
Key Ingredients for the filling:
- Leeks. Slice the leeks quite small, using only the white & green parts. If you don’t have leeks you can substitute onions but be sure to slice them quite thin!
- Crimini Mushrooms. I like to use crimini mushrooms because they don’t get as mushy when being baked up.
- Cheddar Cheese. Try subbing Gouda or Muenster cheese for a twist.
- Greek Yogurt. Subbing out some of the cream for Greek Yogurt adds a tangy flavor as well as being a healthier substitution.
- Cream. You can use all Greek Yogurt, if you like. However, I find that using some heavy cream helps the quiche keep that rich and creamy texture we all love.
- Eggs. Use the very best!
How to Make:
- Prepare the crust. Either using a prepared traditional pie crust or the cauliflower crust.
- Remove the stems from the crimini mushrooms. Taking the stems off the mushrooms is really easy and a bit fun. This is a great way for children to help prepare the quiche! Give them the mushrooms and let them start “popping”.
- Slice the leeks, only using the white and bright green parts of the leek. The dark green tops we will set aside to use in a chicken broth or other use. For this dish, only slice the firm lower part of the leek.
- Saute the leeks in the butter for about 7 minutes and then add the mushrooms. Once you add the mushrooms, saute both for about 4 more minutes. This will help extract the liquid from the mushrooms and keep your quiche from having more liquid than it should (which makes that crust soggy. A soggy crust is what we are trying to avoid!).
- Beat the eggs, cream, yogurt, and spices together.
- Stir the cheese into the egg mixture.
- Add the leek and mushroom to the egg batter being sure to leave out as much of the liquid as possible. Stir gently.
- Pour the whole thing into your prepared crust and put it straight into the oven. Do not let it sit for very long before baking it or you will have a soggy crust. Again with the soggy crust thing :).
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the center of the eggs are set.
Serve this quiche warm out of the oven, for best results. You’ll find the crust gets a wee bit soggy the next day. Still amazing and you’ll want to eat leftovers for days!-but not as delicious as right out of the oven. This recipes is cheesy goodness mixed with fresh produce and crispy cauliflower. A killer breakfast combo!
That, my friends, is one of my favorite quiche recipes to serve for brunch and weekday breakfast. Luckily, it also uses every one of my basket ingredients. SCORE! I know you will love the cauliflower crust and use that recipe often. Probably not even returning to a traditional pie crust for your quiche recipes!
Mushroom & Leek Quiche (with optional Cauliflower crust)
Ingredients
- 2 small leeks cleaned and sliced (use only the white and bright green parts of the leek)
- 2 cups cremini mushrooms sliced, with stems removed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 eggs
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt sub sour cream, if desired
- 2/3 cup heavy cream use all Greek Yogurt, if desired.
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded fine cut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- optional-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Cauliflower Crust
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large saute pan melt the butter and add the sliced leeks.
- Saute the leeks on medium heat for 7 minutes or until soft.
- Add the mushrooms to the leeks and saute for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms have let out their liquid. Drain the liquid from the pan.
- Meanwhile beat the remaining ingredients, except the cheese, together for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the cheese and the leek mixture (be sure NOT to include any liquid in the pan) into the beaten eggs and dairy.
- Pour the entire mixture into the prepared crust.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is set and a knife ran into the center comes out clean.
- Serve immediately for best results.
Cauliflower Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Use your food processor to process the cauliflower into small bits similar to the size of rice. Note: it will most likely be easier working in batches.
- Put the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 5 minutes, covered.
- Place the cooked cauliflower into a clean dish towel and press the liquid out of the cauliflower.
- In a bowl, combine the cauliflower, eggs, cheese, garlic powder, and salt.
- Press the cauliflower mixture into a pie plate. Be sure to press it down firmly.
- Bake for 16-19 minutes or until nicely golden. Let it cool.
Notes
Nutrition
