Crustless Broccoli Cheese Quiches

I have a confession to make.  You know how most kids think broccoli is the worst vegetable in the world, and kids cartoons always make giant broccoli out to be the enemy of all children, something evil that deserves to be hated...?  Well, I was the kid who ATE those kids share of broccoli.  I LOVE BROCCOLI!  I always have.  I always will.  I could never understand why so many kids hated it so much.  It's one of my favourite vegetables.  Nothing better than fresh steamed broccoli, perhaps with a bit of grated cheese on top that's melted from the heat... om nom nom. 

So when I fell upon a recipe for crustless (aka easy!) broccoli cheddar quiches, after having had a massive delivery from some kind friends of eggs straight off their farm, I was very excited.  The recipe used up 6 of the eggs, which was good (meant the sudden excess of eggs wouldn't go to waste!), and Mum had got broccoli from the supermarket on the weekend (2 big heads of broccoli for $3!  Cheap as!) so we had lots of that to use too.

I made it as a side dish for dinner, and my parents ate the left overs for breakfast.   I love that you can make them in muffin trays, perfect portion control, perfect serving size, and they cooked up lovely.  Although the original instructions said to make it into 4 ramekins, I actually liked the muffin tray idea... plus we didn't have any ramekins haha!

Made 11 quiche cupcakes (normal muffin size)

INGREDIENTS

6 eggs

10oz broccoli "florets", cut as big/small as you want (10oz = about 1 & 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup milk

2.5 teaspoons melted butter

Salt and pepper - to taste (optional)

Pinch of chilli powder (optional)

3/4 cup grated cheese (original recipe says sharp cheddar, but I just used Edam)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Microwave broccoli for 1 minute with a little water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels
• Whisk eggs, milk, melted butter, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and chilli together until mixed
• Stir in broccoli and cheese
• Divide mixture evenly between the muffin tray cups, filling 3/4 of the way up the cup
• Poke any bits of broccoli sticking up back down (you don't want it to burn in the oven)
• Bake until golden (about 15 or 20 mins, depending on your oven)

They DO rise when they are in the oven, and get all puffy, but then they deflate as they cool down, into dense little eggy cheesy bites of delicious.  Serve immediately, or eat cold, or eat as left overs - they're good any way!!

I think I will experiment with some other fillings at some point... tomatoes, or ham, or red onion, or normal onion might be a nice addition.  I'll let you know if I do.  :)  I personally didn't really enjoy all the egg, but I'm not big on egg anyway (it takes a very special egg for me to eat it haha).  Mum and Dad loved them though, so we'll go with "they are delicious".  I mostly liked them for the broccoli, if I'm being honest.  :D

Recipe inspiration: http://www.marthastewart.com/318409/crustless-broccoli-cheddar-quiches