I cannot believe it’s been so long since I’ve featured one of our favorites for brunch (or dinner); ham quiche!
I don’t make ham that often, but Rich had a taste for one for Easter, and had found a very interesting peach butter and rosemary glaze recipe he wanted me to try (more about that, next week); so I found myself with a fair amount of ham left over and thought a ham quiche would be just the thing for a light dinner after a heavy-ish holiday feast.
I’ve changed up the crust and the filling a bit from my other ham quiche; if you’d like that version, here it is.
INGREDIENTS
Savory Shortcrust*
•1 cup flour
•1/16 tsp Cayenne pepper
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1-1/2 tsp Parmesan, grated
•4 tbsp cold butter, cubed
•1 egg yolk
•Ice water
Filling:
•1/2 pound (1-1/2 cup) ham, diced
•1 cup Swiss and Provolone cheese, grated
•4 eggs
•1 tbsp flour
•1/2 cup whole milk
•1/2 cup half and half
•1/2 cup heavy cream
•1 tsp Sriracha aioli**
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
•3 tbsp melted butter
*this pie crust is very good, but almost not enough for a nine inch quiche, so I’d probably double the recipe. The worse that’ll happen is that you’ll have a bit of very tasty 
dough leftover; roll the scraps out into a rectangle, slather with seasoned butter or a bit of shredded cheese, roll into a tube, slice into rounds and bake on a parchment lined sheet until golden brown. Winner!
**No sriracha aioli? No worries! Use Dijon mustard instead.
Early in the day or the day before, make the shortcrust by combining the flour, salt, peppers, and Parmesan cheese in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to combine.
Add the butter and the egg yolk and pulse until you have a coarse meal.
With the processor running, add ice water by the tablespoon through the feeding tube until the dough just comes together. This batch took about three tablespoons, but it really depends on the weather.
Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour, or overnight, if that works better for you.
When ready to prepare the quiche, bring the dough out of the fridge while you put the filling together.
Whisk the eggs together with the aioli, flour, and the seasonings until nicely blended; then add the milk, half and half, and heavy cream and whisk to combine (I did all this in my processor, but a large mixing bowl and a whisk’ll do you just fine).
Heat your oven to 400º, roll out the dough, and fit into a deep nine inch quiche pan or pie plate.
Note: you’re gonna need a deep pie pan for this quiche, or you’re gonna have leftover egg and cheese mixture.
Sprinkle the cubed ham and shredded cheese over the bottom of the crust, then place the pan on a rimmed, foil-lined baking pan (just in case the quiche spills over while baking).
Pour the egg and milk mixture over the ham and cheese, then drizzle the melted butter over the top.
I had some asparagus ‘fries’ leftover from Easter dinner as well, so arranged the spears across the top of the quiche. Very pretty, but next time, I will cut the spears into short sections; it’ll make slicing and serving the quiche easier.
Bake the quiche for 35 to 40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is pretty well set.
Allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving warm or at cool room temperature.
As with so many, many things, this tastes a whole lot better the next day.