Anyone who knows me, knows my favorite meal is breakfast/brunch! From eggs, hash browns and sausage to French toast, waffles and pancakes, I can never get enough. When I want a quiche in a pinch, I use a 1-ingredient crust and combine it with a basic quiche base. The secret ingredient is panko – Japanese bread crumbs. I also bought this inexpensive extra deep pie pan from Williams-Sonoma for the quiche so I can put a lot of filling and make it a deep dish quiche.

So I grease the pan and sprinkle it with panko. When it bakes, the panko absorbs the liquid and becomes an instant crust! Like I said before, I go for the easy-peasy methods. And the great thing is quiche is very forgiving. You don’t have to follow any recipes for the fillings. Who cares what is in Quiche Lorraine or the best combination of cheeses. The best ingredients are the ones you already have!

Let’s get to this.

Easy Crust Quiche

Base:
1/2 cup panko
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups whole milk (or half and half)
Filling:
1 medium-size onion, chopped
Garlic to taste, peeled and minced
1/2 to 1-1/2 cup shredded cheese (maybe swiss, cheddar, gouda, gruyère, feta, mozzarella or a combination)
Bacon, ham, sausage, shredded chicken, or other meat (optional)
Spinach, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms, or other vegetables (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Butter pie pan and coat bottom with panko.
2. Cook onion and garlic in pan for 3-5 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add 1 – 3 other ingredients with salt and pepper in order of time needed to cook.
4. Whip together eggs and milk.
5. Put 1/3 of the cheese and then cooked ingredients into pan, followed by 1/3 of the cheese. Pour egg/milk mixture over and top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on how crusty (or not) you want the top.

Variations:
There are so many variations that you can already do with just the fillings, but you can also consider herbs too. Think about thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, chives, or dill (but not ALL of them at once). You can also dust the top with paprika for a nice color and slightly smokey flavor.