Potato-crusted "quiche"

For a while, our chickens went on a little strike and we were barely getting an egg a day. Then we put a light in their coop, gave them more food, and we once again have a surplus of eggs! While John and I, and sometimes the kids, have an egg for breakfast, extras are adding up. So every once in a while I need to make something that uses a lot of eggs for dinner. I've made eggs in purgatory several times, as well as your standard french toast and good ol' scrambled eggs and toast. Last night I wanted something different though, and decided to make a quiche. 

What I did not want to do was make pie crust. I also had leftover potatoes, so decided to make this potato-crusted quiche. I also used just a little bit of milk and not cream, so over all I'm not quite sure this should be classified as a quiche. It is an egg bake...maybe a cross between a fritatta and and quiche. What I'm sure of is it is delicious, and my whole family agreed. 

You can use whatever "fillings" you have on hand. I had frozen broccoli, onions, leftover shredded carrots from making carrot cake, and lots of leftover cheese from the cheese plate at my daughter's birthday party. So this is a vegetarian dish but you can easily add ham, bacon, shredded chicken, or any other sort of meat you like. 

I started by slicing my potatoes kind of thin and roasting them in some olive oil at 375 degrees. I wanted them to be cooked but not crispy. 

Meanwhile I sauteed my onions over medium low heat so they would carmelize.

I layered the potatoes in the bottom of my foil-lined cake pan. If my spring form pan hadn't just died, I would have used that. For some reason all the non-stick coating started to come off of it though, so this is my makeshift way of trying to bake eggs. I oiled the foil really well. 

I wanted the potatoes to form a sort of crust so I weighted them for a bit to get them kind of smushed together.

My egg filling was just 10 eggs and maybe a half a cup of milk. Most quiches use less eggs and more milk/cream, but I really just wanted to use up my eggs and make more of an oven omelette, if you will.

Over the potatoes went the onions.

Then my shredded carrots.

Then the broccoli

And finally the cheese!

I poured my egg batter all over

And baked for about an hour and 20 minutes. I is nice an puffy when it comes out of the oven but like all good souffles it fell pretty quick.

I took the whole deal out of the pan - foil and all - and unwrapped it. My good oiling came in handy here.

It looked and smelled delicious!

Now here is a trick about quiche. You have to wait for it to cool before you cut it. Then heat it back up again before eating. It just slices so much better. I took a slice out while the sun was still out to get a decent picture. Isn't it pretty?

Baby girl liked this especially. She is my good eater. Ao you can see, the potatoes didn't really form all that great of a crust, but it came out fine anyway. It came out of the foil perfectly and all that matters is the taste!

Potato-Crusted Quiche

1 to 1 1/2 lbs red potatoes, sliced this (about 1/4")
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup shredded carrots
10-12 oz cheese, sliced or shredded
10 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Place the potatoes and 1 tbsp. olive oil in a bowl and toss together. Lay the potato slices on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes until completely cooked. While they are baking, sautee the onions in the other Tbsp. of olive oil on medium low heat for about 20 minutes until they are soft and brown.
Generously grease a spring form pan or a foil-lined 9 inch cake pan with a depth of 3 inches. If you try using a pie plate, or a smaller cake pan, you'll have eggs all over the bottom of your oven.
Arrange potatoes in the bottom of the pan o they cover the bottom. If desired, press down with a small plate and something heavy.
Layer the onion, broccoli, carrots, and cheese on top of the potatoes. Combine the beated eggs with the milk, salt, and pepper and pour over the fillings. Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour and 20 minutes. I set my alarm for an hour and checked it every 10 minutes after that. It is done when the filling stops giggling when you gently shake the pan. Cool at least an hour before slicing, and if desired, reheat in the oven or microwave before serving.