Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

Tired of the usual quiche flavours? This Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche combines creamy eggs, tender broccoli, and tangy blue cheese for a bold and delicious twist. Whether for brunch, lunch, or a light dinner, this quiche is easy to make and guaranteed to impress!

Here in France, quiche is a staple dish. I don’t think I’m wrong when I say that most families make quiche at least once a week! Everyone has their favourite recipe, their own way of making it, and they enjoy it served with a fresh green salad drizzled with a homemade, mustard-rich dressing!

One of the favourite quiche fillings here (and probably everywhere!) is Quiche Lorraine. It is true that bacon goes incredibly well in quiche. In fact I have two recipes for bacon quiches here on the blog – Gluten Free Quiche Lorraine and Bacon, Leek and Mushroom Quiche. However, sometimes I prefer a lighter filling to a quiche, and that is why I love this Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche recipe!

So, if you are looking for an easy, flavoursome quiche alternative, read on and find out just how easy it is to make!

Pin it for later!

Homemade Pastry is a Must!

Most people here buy their pastry ready-made from the supermarket – there is a huge choice! Puff pastry, sweet pastry, shortcrust pastry… It comes ready rolled on baking parchment in a round shape that is the perfect size for a quiche or tart. It is so handy, most people don’t even consider making their own.

But I’m going to let you in on a little secret… I have never actually liked quiche! That is, until I started making my own pastry. Now I enjoy it as much as every other person here in France! There is something about the flavour of shop bought pastry that I just really don’t like, so when I realised how easy it is to make my own, I stopped buying the ready-made pastry and found that I enjoyed quiches and tarts a lot more!

If you are looking for a gluten and dairy free quiche recipe, check out this one. I will also explain below how to make this Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche gluten free.

Ingredients Needed to Make Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

• 1 portion of homemade shortcrust pastry (find my favourite sourdough version here)
• 1 medium head broccoli cut into small florets
• 4 eggs
• 400ml milk
• 3tbps flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 120g grated cheese (comté, cheddar, emmental…)
• 100g blue cheese

Pastry

I recommend using shortcrust pastry for this quiche, but you can really use whatever you prefer. Many people here in France like to use puff pastry for quiches. However, that can be a real fuss to make from scratch. I have made Farmhouse on Boone’s sourdough puff pastry recipe in the past and it has worked very well!

The shortcrust pastry I prefer to use is this Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust recipe. I find it extremely easy to roll out, I enjoy the slightly tangy flavour, and I appreciate the health benefits of letting it ferment in the fridge for several hours.

If you are not into sourdough, BBC Good Food has a good standard shortcrust pastry recipe. And if you are looking for a gluten free version, the pastry in this Gluten Free Quiche recipe has a lot of flavour.

Broccoli

I prefer to use fresh broccoli as I find that frozen broccoli can become quite soggy. I like to cut my broccoli up into small florets so that they can be distributed evenly throughout the quiche. I always parboil the broccoli before adding it to the quiche so that it is tender but not overcooked.

Eggs

I prefer to use organic eggs if I can get them, and at the very least free range. The eggs I use are quite large, so if you have smaller eggs you may need to add an extra one.

Mustard

I like to smother my pastry crust with mustard to add extra flavour. This is optional, but I highly recommend it! I use Dijon mustard and I recommend avoiding sweetened mustards.

Grated Cheese

The key here is to grate your own cheese! Ready-grated cheese is coated to stop it sticking and I find that the flavour is not the same.

I personally like to use Comté in this quiche (a famous cheese from my husband’s native Franche-Comté) but Gruyère works well, as does Emmental or Cheddar.

Blue Cheese

You can use which ever blue cheese you prefer. I like Saint Agur which has a milder flavour and a soft texture so it melts into the quiche filling very well. Stilton or Roquefort would also work well.

I like to crumble my blue cheese up into medium sized pieces. I don’t want it to melt into the quiche filling completely, I prefer to have some pieces of blue cheese in the quiche.

Equipment Needed to Make Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

• 28-30cm ceramic pie or quiche dish
• Baking beans or dried beans
• Baking parchment
• Rolling pin
• Saucepan and colander
• Medium bowl
• Whisk

How to Make Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

While it looks and tastes impressive, this is a very straightforward recipe. Keep reading to see how easy it is to make!

If you have made your own pastry, remove it from the fridge 30 mins – 1 hr before you need it to let it soften enough to roll out easily.

Preheat your oven to 200°C and grease your pie/quiche dish.

Roll Pastry and Blind Bake

On a lightly floured surface, roll your pastry out into a disc big enough to cover the bottom and the sides of your dish. Place your pastry disc into the dish and gently press it so that it takes on the form of the dish. Prick the pastry with a fork several times.

Place a piece of baking parchment on top of the pastry and pour baking beans, or dried beans, on top. This will prevent the pastry from puffing up during the blind baking.

Bake at 200°C for 15 mins.

Prepare the Filling

While the pastry is baking, prepare the filling as follows.

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the broccoli to the boiling water and simmer for 5 mins. Strain broccoli in a colander and leave to dry for a few minutes.

Whisk the eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper together in a medium sized bowl.

Grate the cheese and add it to the egg mixture.

Build the Quiche and Bake

After 15 mins, remove the pastry from the oven. Smother the bottom of the quiche with 1 tbsp mustard.

Next, add the broccoli, making sure that it is evenly distributed over the base of the quiche.

Then pour over the egg, milk, flour and cheese mixture, distributing the cheese as evenly as possible.

Crumble the blue cheese over the quiche, making sure to leave lumps of blue cheese so that the flavour comes out well.

Bake the quiche in the oven for another 20-25 mins.

Serve warm or cold with salad or a soup.

Tips for a Successful Quiche

For my top tips for a perfect pastry crust, check out this recipe.

• Blind bake the pastry before adding the filling: this is an important step that will give you a crispy pastry crust, even underneath. It will also help to prevent the filling from escaping.
• Pricking the pastry before baking will prevent the pastry from puffing up.
• Smother the base of the quiche with mustard: this adds a huge punch of flavour to the finished quiche!
• Use milk and flour: this quiche recipe differs from other more traditional recipes in that it uses milk and flour instead of cream. I prefer the lighter texture and flavour this brings to the quiche.
• Adding the grated cheese to the egg and milk recipe will help to distribute the cheese throughout the quiche, which improves both flavour and texture.
• Let your quiche cool completely before cutting it up if you want a clean slice of quiche, this will give the filling a chance to firm up.

Can I Make this Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche Gluten Free?

Yes! it is very easy to make this Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche Gluten free.

• Use a gluten free pastry crust (check out my recipe for a Buckwheat Pastry here.)
• Use cornflour to thicken the egg mixture instead of all-purpose flour.
• Check the ingredients in your mustard – some may contain gluten or other allergens.

How to Store Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

Once the quiche is cooked and cooled, it will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze it. It is possible to reheat the quiche from frozen by covering it with aluminium foil and placing it in a preheated oven at 180°C. See this tutorial for more info.

Pin it for later!

What Variations Could I Make to this Quiche Recipe?

The possibilities for variations to this recipe are endless. If you take the pastry, and the egg/milk/flour/cheese mixture as your basis, you can really add whatever other ingredients you think would taste good! Simply pre-cook any meat and vegetables and add them to your quiche!

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to take a photo and tag me on social media @candleinthekitchen!

If you liked this recipe, you may also like: