Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche is perfect for spring asparagus and many other vegetables coming into summer. This recipe uses a generous helping of Monterey Jack Cheese and is sprinkled with Parmesan at the end. So it’s important to use a good quality cheese. For me, that choice is only Cache Valley® Creamery cheese.
The following post is sponsored by Cache Valley® Creamery. All the opinions and comments about Cache Valley Cheese are my own.
Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche is my new obsession for something so delicious, so easy, and so versatile. Quiche, in general, is great for every meal of the day- fresh out of the oven or reheated- always fabulous. And quiche can be frozen to have on hand later, or for giving to a friend who can use a little help with a meal. But THIS quiche recipe has been deemed by many of my testers as “the best quiche I’ve ever had”. So, if you haven’t already hit the “Jump To Recipe” button, here are the details:
I love vintage cookbooks for recipe inspiration and my latest find is The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook. This book is so fun (copyright 1987), with a ton of unique recipes from Bed and Breakfasts from every state in the country. My original Peach Kuchen recipe came from Volume 2 of the same title. But when I came across The Heartstone Inn’s recipe for Delicious Creamy Zucchini Quiche I was skeptical. Skeptical because it only uses one egg and two egg yolks in the recipe. Most of the “creamy” part of the custard is achieved with eight ounces of cream cheese and a little heavy cream. All of the quiche recipes I’ve tried before contain nearly half a dozen eggs! And I almost baulked at the thought, but since I love recipes that are not the norm, I finally dove in. And now?… I never want to make a quiche any other way. For this version, I substituted asparagus spears for the zucchini because it was effortless and so fresh tasting.
Can you freeze quiche?
There are a few thoughts on whether you can freeze quiche or not. If you want to freeze a quiche, doing so before baking is the preferred method. But you’ll need to make sure to use a pie plate that’s pretty deep, especially for this recipe. The regular Marie Callender’s pie plate you see in my photos is not deep enough to be able to freeze the uncooked quiche. You can easily, but carefully, remove the frozen crust from its original container and place it in a deep dish pie plate. Then par bake the crust in the new dish, add your ingredients, and cover first with plastic wrap (I would cover with a couple layers to get the air tight seal), then wrap in aluminum foil. Place the quiche on an even shelf in the freezer until frozen, then you can store it anywhere you need to in the freezer. Unbaked quiche can be frozen for two months before baking.
What about freezing quiche after it’s been baked? This isn’t the method most experts recommend as frozen egg can change its texture, and the crust may not bake up crisp when reheated. That being said, I have frozen this particular recipe after baking and when defrosted and reheated, it was as good as fresh-baked. I think because there aren’t a lot of eggs in this particular quiche, you could freeze with confidence.
How to reheat quiche:
Refrigerated leftovers- If reheating a whole quiche (or nearly whole) from the fridge, simply preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place the quiche on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven. Bake until the center temperature registers 165F degrees. This can take about 30 minutes. If you’re only reheating single slices, you can still use this method, however, I’ve reheated slices in my microwave with excellent results. Even the crust remains delicious- the secret is not to reheat on full power. Depending on your microwave, you can usually cook the slice on power 6 for one minute and then heat an additional 20 or 30 seconds (if needed) at power 8. Once you see the custard melty and hear mild sizzling, your quiche should be heated as needed.
Ingredients in Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche:
The star players in this quiche are: Dijon mustard that gets brushed onto the bottom of the crust and then baked in; Monterey Jack cheese, super smooth, melty, and creamy tasting; A full 8 ounces of cream cheese as the star of the custard bringing the flavor to a rich and creamy taste; asparagus makes any recipe feel like spring and we all loved the texture from the fresh spear tips and it paired so well with the hint of the mustard from every bite; mushrooms add that umami quality that’s almost meaty in flavor and texture.
Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche is a great vegetarian recipe, but you can really change up any of the ingredients to your liking. Cache Valley® Creamery’s monterey jack cheese is so delicious but if you prefer the traditional Swiss cheese commonly used in many quiche recipes, you can certainly do that too. If you’re serving the quiche for brunch, serve with usual breakfast sides like hash brown potatoes, sausage or strips of bacon and fresh fruit. For a pretty presentation, you can serve on a bed of spin which is a departure from the spinach usually being baked into the quiche.
Give this recipe a try the next time you want a quiche recipe that comes together easily and is sure to impress. Again, I highly recommend doubling the ingredients and filling two pies. Save one for later or share with a friend. For a nice dinner, Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche is hearty enough to be served with a simple side salad or favorite vegetable.
Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche
Don’t be put off by the use of only a few eggs in this recipe. The combination of a generous amount of cream cheese, heavy cream, an egg and two egg yolks makes the best, silky, creamy texture- you’ll never want to make quiche any other way again.
Servings 6 people
Calories 381
Instructions
Prepare the pie crust and par bake it:
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If using a store-bought frozen pie crust, bring to room temperature while preheating your oven to 425F°. If using homemade pie crust, prepare the crust in the pie plate and flute the top. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork. Brush 2Tablespoons dijon mustard over the bottom of the pie crust. Place the pie crust in the oven directly on the center rack. Bake the pie crust for about 8-10 minutes until barely browned. Remove from the oven and immediately lower the oven temperature to 350F°
Prepare the filling and bake the quiche:
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While the Pie crust is par baking, saute the sliced mushrooms and chopped shallots in 2 teaspoons oil or butter until the mushrooms are nicely browned and the shallots are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the asparagus tips and saute another 2-3 minutes, just until the asparagus is bright green and still firm. Remove from heat and set aside.
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Grate 2 cups Monterey jack cheese and set aside. Place 8 ounces softened cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium until smooth. Add ½ cup cream, 2 egg yolks, and 1 egg, beating between each addition. Add ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste. Scrape the bowl and beat for about 30 seconds more.
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Place the cooled pie crust on a baking sheet. Sprinkle one cup of Monterey Jack cheese over the bottom of the pie crust and sprinkle corn over the cheese. Sprinkle zucchini over the corn. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the zucchini. Sprinkle the last one cup of Monterey Jack cheese over the quiche and grind extra pepper over the top of the cheese.
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Place the quiche and baking sheet into the 350℉ oven and bake for 40 minutes. After about 30 minutes, start checking the quiche and if the crust or top seems to be getting browned too quickly, place some aluminum foil over to slow the browning.
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After 40 minutes, insert a knife in the center. It should come out pretty clean except for the melted cheese.
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Remove the quiche to the stove top and let cool until the top evens out a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately, or cool to room temperature and refrigerate to serve later.
Equipment
1 stand mixer or beaters and medium bowl
Notes
- If the crust rises during baking- After removing from the oven, gently and slowly, using a rubber spatula, push the crust back to shape in the pan.
- Bringing cream cheese to room temperature- To quickly bring the cream cheese to room temperature, either leave out on the counter for about an hour, depending on the temperature in your kitchen, or you can quickly soften it by placing on a dish in the microwave and heating for 2 minutes on power 2.
- If the cream cheese is lumpy- If you forget to bring the cream to room temperature, it may make your cream cheese clump up a big when they’re beat together. This is perfectly fine. The cream cheese will melt smoothly as it bakes.
Nutrition Facts
Cheesy Asparagus Mushroom Quiche
Amount Per Serving (1 slice)
Calories 381
Calories from Fat 306
% Daily Value*
Fat 34g52%
Saturated Fat 20g125%
Trans Fat 0.003g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 10g
Cholesterol 186mg62%
Sodium 614mg27%
Potassium 200mg6%
Carbohydrates 5g2%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 15g30%
Vitamin A 1504IU30%
Vitamin C 2mg2%
Calcium 355mg36%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Recipe adapted from The Heartstone Inn, Eureka Springs, AR