Looking for a breakfast or just something that will snack the time away? Making quiche without crust will do both without adding much to our waistline.

Getting up in the morning is a tiring task. For many of us it almost consumes all the energy we have accumulated during the night or at least so it feels.

Blessed are those who have timer on their coffee machine or having a lovely spouse making their coffee in the morning thus making life more bearable during the mists of morning.

Of course, there are those who can just jump out of bed at 5’o clock in the morning without even waiting for the alarm clock to buzz its first. When others turn on their other side to ponder some half lost dream a little longer, they are already coming back from a refreshing little jog that most of us capable of overcome only by car.

Strange as it may seem, but science has no clear recommendation of how we should be spending our sleeping hours as long as we are spending it. Well, actually they say that doing shift works or even worse, rotating shift works do have a bad impact on our healthy lifestyle with increased risks to all sorts of possible chronic disease.

Even though, we have overcome our limitations that nature has set for humankind by equipping us with such lame optical vision that we can’t see properly with no light, we still can’t enjoy the darkness without sacrificing a couple of years from our life.

It seems that the line that we thread here is -as always- quite thin and probably Spaniards walking on it just right. According to the WHO Spanish life expectancy not only dethrone but eclipse Japan long hold reign in the 80’s.

Not bad from a nation that starts having dinner at 10pm and like to start their day with a piece of deep-fried dough dunked into double sugar late. Strange it may seem, but the secret of expected life longevity is in their diet which is Mediterranean.

Despite the growing obesity rates. mainly thanks to the sugar filled fast food and ready-made meals, larger part of the population still prefers not to gobble up a days’ worth of calories for breakfast, especially not in a form of dessert.

A piece of toast with tomato and olive oil or even better a lovely chunk of the Spanish omelet from their favorite bar, is much more desirable option for many.

The particularity of Spanish omelet, or as it is called tortilla -or tortilla de patatas if it is filled with potato- is that it’s filled with all sort of goodies that our heart desires, exactly like we do it with quiche.

However, quiche has a crust that requires a bit of baking and preparation if we go for a crustless quiche because we don’t want the hassle of baking or we decided to go on low-carb then we essentially are making a Spanish tortilla.

Except that Spanish tortilla is made in a pan on the cooktop, sometimes in a special double-sided tortilla making pan which is an encouraging news if we don’t want to use our oven.

Normal quiche is made in the oven so we can prepare our crustless quiche in the oven that will save us from largely embarrassing flipping practices and unnecessary cleaning sessions.

Baking crustless quiche is easier than the real thing as we don’t have to bother with preparing or baking the crust beforehand. This hassle-free dish makes preparing a quick and variable breakfast not only healthy but pleasureful, too.

Ingredients

5oz / 150g Bacon or Pancetta or Lardon
1 head / 200g Onion (finely diced)
1 clove Garlic (crushed)
1 cup / 60g Cheddar (shredded)
½ cup / 40g Scallion
1 cup / 230ml Milk
1 cup / 230ml Cream
8 Eggs
Salt to taste (Mind that cheddar and the bacon might be salty)

Kitchen utensils

Ø10½” / Ø26cm Baking tray

How to make Crust-less quiche

Dice or slice the bacon, pancetta or lardon.
On medium heat render out the fat for about 10 minutes. Move the pieces around to avoid burning down and uneven browning.
We are going to use the rendered out fat to caramelize the onions. Add the onions and saute it on high heat for about 5 -10 minutes.
When it gets a glassy / translucent color lower the heat to medium low and cook it for about 15 – 20 minutes.
Add garlic and scallion then cook it until the garlic gets fragrant for about 2 – 5 minutes. This is the time to add optional vegetables like broccoli too. It can be added frozen in which case at least 5 -10 more minutes of frying recommended.
Beat eggs then mix in the cream and milk. If we run out of milk or cream just substitute one with the other.
Mix in the bacon, onion, scallion and any optional vegetables then add the cheese.
Pour filling into the pie baking form.
However, we don’t have crust now a crust protector should be prepared as generally the sides are setting earlier than the middle. During baking, check the sides and if the middle is still wobbly while the sides are getting golden brown take the crust-less quiche out of the oven and apply the crust protector. Applying it beforehand is also an option, given that we have something that will prevent the foil to fall off.
Place the quiche into a 350°F / 180°C oven and bake it for 20-30 minutes. Don’t forget to take the crust protector off to get a lovely golden brown color. Check if the eggs set by making a little cut somewhere in the middle.

Enjoy!

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