All the Eggs, 1 Pie Crust

Lest any hostess try to fool you, quiches are one of the easiest things ever to whip up for brunch, lunch or dinner. If you keep frozen pie crusts at the ready (as I do), you need only a few ingredients to customize your quiche experience. Eggs, obviously, are required, but beyond that, anything goes—bacon, ham, cheese, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms—you name it, you can use it. Unfortunately for me, eggs aren’t really one of my fridge staples. So, when I bought a shiny, new, hormone-free dozen this weekend, I was primed to use ‘em up. And quick.

But it was after I put all of the eggs into my basket (see where I’m going here…), I discovered that my grocer doesn’t carry frozen artichokes. This was problematic, as I had planned to make a chicken and artichoke dish using some of my freshly procured eggs. And the eggs (and the fresh dill I also bought) that I needed to make the aforementioned chicken didn’t really fit into any of my other dinner plans.

So, rather than turn the eggs and dill into deviled eggs (and eat them all in one sitting—oy) or banish the ingredients to the back of the fridge, never to be heard from again (although they probably would have been smelled again, at some point), I chose to splurge on some beautiful smoked salmon and make a quickie quiche. Waste not, want for quiche not, I always say.

Smoked Salmon and Leek Quiche
Serves 4

1 pie crust, pre-baked according to package directions
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
juice of ½ a lemon
3 eggs
1 c. heavy cream
6 oz. smoked salmon, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
½ tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
sea salt and black pepper
¼ c. Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, leeks and lemon juice with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, stirring just until combined. Add the cream, salmon, dill, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper and mix well.

Pour the cream cheese-salmon mixture into the pre-baked crust and sprinkle the top with parmesan. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the center is firmly set. (If the crust begins to brown too early, wrap a piece of aluminum foil around it.) Cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes before serving.