MUSHROOM CRUSTED QUICHE

Mushroom crusted Quiche image

Unique crust of mushrooms and crackers, with a blend of cheese's. Wonderful and flavorful, and healthy to boot! I found a recipe from Bon Appetit from 1987 and added, deleted and made it my way. It is fabulous! So much flavor and very easy to make. I can also see adding other vegetables to this and will continue to play with it,...

Provided by Deb Crane

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter (divided)
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped fine
1/2 c finely crushed saltine crackers (about 15 crackers)
6 green onions, chopped fine (more or less to taste)
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c creamed cottage cheese (blended in food processor)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp roasted garlic (or to taste)
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp paprika ( or enough to sprinkle on top of quiche)

Steps:

1. NOTE: If you chop everything with a food processor, this recipe goes very quickly! First add the saltine crackers and blend until fine crumbs. Empty the crackers from the food processor, and add the mushrooms. Empty the mushrooms into the pan with the 3 Tablespoons of butter, and add the cottage cheese, basil,garlic and pepper. (no need to clean out the food processor in between!)
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9 inch pie plate.
3. Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and stir until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Add processed crackers to the mushrooms and mix well. Press into the pie plate, working the crust up the sides of the pie plate.
5. In the same skillet that you sauteed the mushrooms, add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the green onions, and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle onions over the crust.
6. Add 2 cups of mozzarella cheese (or any cheese to your liking) on top of the onion layer.
7. Back to the food processor; combine the cottage cheese, basil,garlic and pepper. Process until creamy. Add the beaten eggs to the creamed cottage cheese mixture.
8. Pour cottage cheese/egg mixture over the shredded cheese layer, pouring evenly to cover the whole quiche. Sprinkle sweet paprika over the entire pie.
9. Bake until tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
10. NOTES: I can see so many variations of this recipe! Use any shredded cheese you like. Also, adding different spices to the cottage cheese would change the flavor. Different crackers would make unique flavor changes as well. Perhaps even sparingly add cook vegetables in addition to the onions.....the possibilities are endless! The crust and topping are what is unique in this recipe. Play with your food and have fun! :)