Eggplant Quiche

by Lizzy W   |   March 1, 2015   |   13 Comments

I seriously love eggplant.  I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks…  so when I tasted an AMAZING Quiche at my favorite coffee shop I got inspired to make my own with eggplant.  Oh man it was sooooo yummy.  I tried to make it as healthy as I could, so I made one with crust and one crustless, and they both turned out so so good!  The cool thing about this recipe is you can tweak whats in it adding more vegetables, less, or alter the cheeses to your taste.

And of course, using my new favorite kyocera pan.  I really cannot get enough of this pan, I have started using it to cook just about everything.

(I received this product for review purposes.  All opinions are completely my own based on my experience.)

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, peeled
• 4 cloves of garlic, leave peeling on
• 1/4 lb. pancetta
• 1 leek, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 shallot, diced
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk
• 6 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 cup Gruyere cheese
• 10-20 sprigs of thyme, leaves separated
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 4 slices of tomato
• salt and pepper, to taste
• olive oil
• Quiche pastry crust, thawed

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Peel eggplant and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.  Line a baking sheet with foil, then parchment paper, then brush on olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Lay the eggplant pieces out and brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle a little more salt.  Place the eggplant in the oven for about 20 minutes until the bottom turns dark brown and the eggplant looks a bit dry.   During the last 7 minutes place garlic on the baking sheet, unpeeled, and bake.  Once the eggplant is done, turn the oven down to 350 degrees.
• While the eggplant is cooking heat up a frying pan and cook pancetta.  I don’t use any oil because the pancetta has enough fat that you won’t need it.  Cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side, and then lay out on a paper towel.  Once a good amount of the grease has soaked up, chop it up into small pieces.  Use the pancetta fat to cook the shallots and leeks in next.  Season them well with salt and pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes, until browned, then set aside.
• Once the eggplant has cooled, begin next step.  Mix together eggs, heavy cream, leeks, pancetta, thyme, salt and pepper.  Layer eggplant on top of the crust.  Pour the mixture into the crust and top with spinach, then tomato, then cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes, until the egg is done all the way through.  Enjoy!

 

To Purchase Kyocera’s 12″ Ceramic Frying Pan Click Here

For Full Affiliate Disclosure Statement Click Here