Ham, Zucchini, and Gruyere Quiche

Pie Week charges on. Wednesday already? Time to change things up, with a savory pie. You may (or may not) have noticed a dearth of egg recipes on my blog. Aside from the occasional dessert with a rich custard, I tend to stay away from eggy dishes - brunch favorites, hollandaise sauce, anything with meringue....That's because Hubs has an egg intolerance. The tyke may have inherited this. Since I don't want to be the only one in the house to eat something, I tend to shy away from these types of foods.


The one exception to this is quiche. Every so often, I crave quiche. I love the cheesy, light-but-dense filling, especially combined with a pastry crust. Quiche is a great way to use up the stuff that hangs out in my refrigerator drawers. Leftover mushrooms? Throw them in! A few nubs of hard cheese? Grate them up! A few sprigs of thyme? Even better! Quiche is one of the few dishes where I'll eat ham, probably because there's lots of other stuff to hide it in. I also like to eat quiche with a salad, especially arugula, because it helps balance out the richness from the pie.



Ham, Zucchini, and Gruyere Quiche
original recipe


Pastry dough for a single layer pie

2 Tbs olive oil
1 medium zucchini, diced
7 oz. ham steak, cubed
4 large eggs
1 c regular cream
1 ½ c gruyere cheese
¼ c shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 350˚F. Roll out pastry dough and line a deep dish pie plate.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add ham and cook until the ham begins to brown, another 3-4 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Stir in gruyere, Parmesan, and ham/zucchini mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the prepared pie plate. Bake until set, about 35-40 minutes. Cover edge of the crust with a pie shield or strips of foil to keep them from burning. Remove from oven, and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.