Asparagus Quiche with Ramps

Celebrate Spring with this simple, yet satisfying crustless Asparagus Quiche with mimolette cheese and foraged wild leeks. This one pan meal makes a quick gluten free lunch or addition to any brunch table.

Type ‘asparagus’ into this blog’s search feature and you will find a treasure trove of asparagus recipes. It’s no secret that I am in love with this spring vegetable. Most of the time we eat Roasted Asparagus at meal times but sometimes I like to get a little fancier if I find purple or white asparagus.

Asparagus Quiche with Ramps

Local asparagus has a very short picking season which happens to coincide with all the yummy wild spring greens like ramps. During this time I try to combine as many of these spring flavours as possible and quiche is a great way to do that.

Eggs are a great source of protein and excellent blank canvas. Once you have the perfect quiche recipe, you can add all your favourite flavours to make it your own. I find it’s a great dish to make when you want to ‘clean out the fridge’ because you can make use of leftover ham, sausage, or bits of vegetables and herbs.

This asparagus quiche recipe is crustless, meaning you don’t have to fiddle around with pastry. However, if you’d like to add a crust you can use my Food Processor Pie Pastry recipe or use a store bought pie crust.

What are Ramps?

Ramps, also known as wild leeks, wood leeks, ramsons, or wild garlic, are an edible wild onion green that is foraged in early Spring. They consist of one or two flat wide green leaves, a rose coloured concave stem and a white bulb all of which are edible.

During ramp season (from late April to early May), ramps grow in large patches in shaded, moist, wooded areas; primarily deciduous forests. They are native to North America, growing mostly in the Eastern states, along with the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

What is a Quiche?

A quiche is a savoury french tart with a pastry crust and custard filling in addition to other meat, vegetable, cheese, or herb fillings. The word ‘quiche’ was first used to describe this dish during the early 1800’s in France. However, the use of cream and eggs in a pastry shell has been popular in the UK and Italy for centuries.

Quiches can be served warm or cold and they make a nice light lunch. When you bake up a crustless quiche, the eggs form their own crust on the outer edges. A slice of crustless quiche holds together just the same as one with a pastry crust and is also healthier.

Ingredients for Asparagus Quiche

As previously mentioned, you can add all sorts of fillings to your quiche. For this Asparagus Quiche with Ramps, you’ll need fresh Spring asparagus and wild ramps.

• Eggs
• Milk
• Cream
• Mimolette Cheese
• Asparagus
• Wild Ramps
• Fresh Chives
• Salt and Pepper

Eggs are the most important ingredient and they combine with cream and milk to create a luxurious custardy quiche filling. You can use any combination of milk and cream. However, a good amount of heavy cream will result in a richer filling.

In general, the richer the custard filling, the more evenly the toppings will be distributed within the quiche. If the custard too thin, the toppings will tend to float to the top of the quiche.

Mimolette is a slightly oily semi hard French cheese which is dyed orange naturally by the addition of annatto. There is not enough annatto to flavour the cheese and it tastes similar to Parmesan. Feel free to use Parmesan in place of the Mimolette.

When buying asparagus, try to select a bundle that has firm similar sized stalks with closed ends (not open and flowering). You can leave the spears whole or slice them up before adding to the quiche.

If you aren’t the foraging type, you might be able to find ramps, or wild leeks at your local farmer’s market during ramp season. It is worth buying extra to preserve as pickles and or in your freezer as the greens freeze well.

How to Make Asparagus Quiche with Ramps

This crustless quiche recipe is so easy to whip up and bake. However, if you prefer a quiche with a crust, blind bake the pie shell first before filling the quiche or it will be soggy.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs and cream/milk together. Stir in the chopped chives, grated cheese, finely sliced ramp bulbs/stalks. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture into a round 9 inch glass or stoneware baking dish or pie pans. Stir in the ramp greens and arrange asparagus spears over the top. If you prefer, you can add more chopped asparagus to the egg mixture in addition to or instead of the large asparagus spears.

How to Tell When the Quiche is Done

Bake the quiche for 40-45 minutes in a 350 F oven. It is done baking when:

1. The top is a lovely golden brown colour and the edges have pulled away from sides of the pan.
2. The center jiggles only slightly as you move the dish.
3. A knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Recipe Substitutions

If asparagus and ramps aren’t available, you can substitute other ingredients into this great recipe. Look to your fridge crisper drawer for vegetables that are slightly past their prime. Languishing spinach or kale, leftover roasted red pepper, shredded carrots, green beans, or mushrooms will work well.

Vegetables with a high water content (mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes) may need to be cooked in a large skillet first while canned artichokes and frozen peas can be added ‘as is’.

For proteins, crumbled cooked sausage and bacon or leftover ham are all wonderful in quiche as are smoked salmon or shrimp.

A variety of shredded or crumbled cheese is a great way to change the flavour of your quiche. Try cheddar, goat cheese, Parmesan, Feta cheese, Swiss or Gruyere.

Finally, herbs (fresh and dried) always take quiches to the next level. Try adding tarragon, parsley, dill, chives, oregano, basil, lovage, or thyme.

If you make this Asparagus Quiche with Ramps, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.