Using fresh produce from your garden is, I think, most Foodies' dream. There is something satisfying about picking and harvesting from your own garden, even more so if you made the compost from the previous harvest's "leftovers". The whole circular economy feeling is in your own hands and backyard! Today I present you a recipe to make a quiche. I use mostly ingredients from my own garden, even the amaranth seed! I will also give you a foolproof recipe for this quiche that you adapt to your palate and liking.

All cooking requires some technique, skill, and ingenuity. Thinking outside of the box, or in this case beyond the recipe, is important. A recipe is a guideline that you can follow, it is not something you need to stick to. People who tell you that you need to stick to the recipe do not know what they are missing. So please read on to find the foolproof method for this quiche without a crust! (The crust is in some sense on top.)

The Old Recipe

This is a very old recipe from my mother's cookbook shelf. I think it was her mother's as well. We in South Africa have long since used the metric system, so seeing imperial weights is a sign of how old this recipe is. Basically, the recipe reads:

Crustless Quiche (A Recipe from Hester)

• 1/2 lbs chopped ham,
• 1/2 lbs shredded cheese
• 2 tbs grated onion
• 2 tsp mustard
• 4 tbs flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 small can of sausages (I have no idea what this is, "older" South Africans will be able to help!)

Mix everything and bake 30 min @ 350F.

This is not, however, the recipe I will use today. I am going to rewrite the recipe into a foolproof recipe you can use to make any kind of quiche. I am going to bake a spinach and wild weeds & feta and bacon quiche. (Thats a mouthful!)

Rewritten Foolproof Recipe

Foolproof Quiche Recipe

• about a cup of any cheese
• 1 medium-size onion
• 4 tbs of any flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk

This is a very basic recipe, and the most important parts are the cheese, egg, flour, and milk. The rest is up to you to experiment with. My recipe (or more ingredients list) reads as follow:

• Spinach leaves from my garden (And a couple of dandelion leaves)
• The stalks
• Onion
• Garlic
• Garlic Chives
• Nettle-leaved Goosefoot (similar to lambsquarter)
• Amaranth and sorghum flour
• Gouda and Feta cheese
• Bacon
• Egg
• Milk

Method

Step 1: Cook the spinach

I chop the onion and spinach stalks into small cubes and fry them until brown-ish. I add the various leaves I picked and "steam" them until they are done. See the images below of how I do it:

Step 2: Cook the bacon

Cook your bacon. I like to slowly render out the fat and add everything to the mix at the end.

Step 3: Make Amaranth and Sorghum Flour

I had a good harvest of amaranth seed last year. I think I almost harvested 1000grams. (This sounds like a very small amount, but I am happy with it.) I grind some of the amaranth seeds and sorghum seeds into flour.

Step 4: Mix everything together

Now mix everything together. Watch out to not "cook" your eggs. My mixture cooled down a bit before I added the eggs.

Step 5: Bake

Place the mixture in a baking pan that you oiled. I add some chopped bread crumbs on top to mimic a crust. The bread crumbs bake into crispy treats when you bite into them. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 180C.

(Someone in the house stole a bite before it cooled down!)

Additional Step: White Sauce

I made a white sauce to top the quiche. I normally make a creamed spinach, so I thought the white sauce added a nice touch.

I really hope you give this a try. It is seriously good, and you can experiment with different combinations of flavors and fillings. Maybe a potato, bacon, and leek quiche! That sounds good. Or a coconut cream, lemongrass, and fennel quiche. I hope you try this recipe and that your creativity runs wild. Cooking is after all a blank canvas on which you can be creative. Don't get bogged down by a recipe or tradition. Experiment and most importantly, enjoy!

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