- This crustless quiche with spinach and Gruyere is one of my go-to brunch recipes when I'm entertaining. It feels a little special, maybe even a touch fancy, but it is incredibly easy to make, and because it's crustless, it comes together in less time than a classic quiche. Now, as we're making this today, I'll talk about the differences between a frittata and a quiche, but just know that it is a wonderful make-ahead recipe and perfect for holidays and a Sunday brunch. So let me show you how to make it. To get started, you'll need to slice up about one cup's worth of shallots. Shallots can vary quite a bit in size, and based on feedback from you guys, I've been trying to get better at measuring shallots in cups

rather than by how many of them you'll need. I love shallots for their soft oniony flavor and thin, elegant texture, but you could also swap in regular onions as well. And as you can see here, my cup is quite full, so you can always add a bit more or a bit less based on the shallots you have on hand. For the greens in this quiche recipe, you'll need five ounces of baby spinach, which is one of those smaller cartons of spinach at the market. Now you can saute the spinach whole, but I love to do a very rough chop which means running my knife through it just once or twice.

This also makes for some slightly smaller pieces in each bite and also makes it a bit easier to get everything to fit in the pan. But again, if you want to saute the baby spinach whole, you can do that as well. And then the last ingredient you'll need to prep is the Gruyere cheese, and you'll just grate about a cup's worth of that. Gruyere is one of my favorite cheeses and very traditional in French quiches, but you could also swap in Emmental, Fontina, or even a sharp cheddar, and I always like to grate a little extra that goes straight into my mouth. I mean, that is the joy of being the cook, am I right?

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and then add these sliced shallots. Saute these for two to three minutes until they're softened and slightly translucent, and you can use your spoon to break them apart a bit as you stir. Then add two garlic cloves that you can mince straight into the pan and the five ounces of baby spinach. Saute this for another 30 seconds to a minute or until the spinach is just barely starting to wilt. It will continue wilting after you remove it from the stove, so all you really need to do is just give it a few stirs, then remove it from the heat.

Transfer this mixture to a greased nine-inch pie dish, and then let it cool slightly. I just push it off to the side for a bit while I make the egg mixture, and that's enough time for it to cool. So to make the egg mixture, add six large eggs to a bowl along with one cup of heavy cream, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, and a quarter teaspoon of ground black pepper. Then whisk this mixture until the eggs are light and fluffy. After that, add the one cup of grated Gruyere cheese and stir it all together. At the beginning, I talked about the differences between a quiche and a frittata, and the short story is that a quiche has more dairy.

It's creamier, richer, and has an almost custard-like base with an overall softer texture, whereas a frittata is more eggy with a firmer, more-structured texture. I love both, and I have recipes for both, so it really just depends on what you're in the mood for. But once your egg filling is all mixed together, pour that on top of the spinach-shallot mixture in your pie pan and gently stir it to get some of that spinach mixed throughout and so you can see it on top which is always pretty. Then bake that in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the eggs are set. When you pull it out of the oven,

it'll be a bit poofy and all fluffed up, which is normal, and it will settle back down as it comes to room temperature. I love the lightly golden edges on this crustless quiche and how you can see the swirls of spinach and delicate shallots. It's simple yet elegant, and if you've ever only made frittatas before, you'll definitely notice the difference between a quiche and a frittata when you slice into it as the quiche is noticeably softer. You can serve this crustless quiche with some toast or a pastry, but as I'm gluten free and usually avoid most bread in general, whether it's gluten free or not, I'll just serve this up with a few slices of avocado and an extra sprinkle of cracked black pepper

to finish it off. This is a restaurant-worthy brunch recipe and one that reminds me of my travels in France where I would just sit in a cafe in the morning with a coffee and a slice of quiche and watch the world go by at a leisurely pace. All right, let's take a bite. (gentle music) This really has such a silky, smooth custardy texture to it. It's, how do you explain it, softer than a frittata. A frittata can sometimes feel like more bouncy and eggy springy, and this has just a smoother finish to it. As you can see, it's also loaded with vegetables, with all of that spinach, a whole five-ounce container,

but you can, of course, add whatever vegetables that you have on hand as well, come up with a whole variety of different flavor combinations, and I have some ideas on the website. I also need to make a traditional quiche Lorraine in the future, but, of course, a crustless quiche Lorraine. So if you guys want to see that, let me know. And as I mentioned at the beginning, this is perfect for holidays, whether that's Easter, this is a great Easter brunch recipe, by the way; Mother's Day; Christmas Day; Christmas morning brunch. This is a great option to have on a buffet table as well.

You can also make this ahead before an event and then simply reheat it in the oven. It doesn't dry out because it does have that added moisture in it rather than a frittata. And if you happen to have any leftovers, they will of course last for several days in the fridge, and then you can enjoy them on subsequent days for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I think it's great for any meal of the day. All right, I hope you guys enjoyed today's video for this crustless quiche recipe, and, if you did, don't forget to give it a thumbs up as that always helps to support my channel,

and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it after you've made it either here on the YouTube channel or over on my website. And with that, I will see you guys in the next video. (gentle music)