I have to admit it: I adore quiche.

I’ve been making it for years with relative success, but I’ve fallen in love with it again after turning to Julia Child’s master recipe.

In her book THE WAY TO COOK, Julia gives recipes for several types of quiche. Spinach, Lorraine, etc.

I started with her spinach quiche, and I’ve found that I can use the basic ratio she outlines there for any veggie quiche. Well, except for one twist, with the cheese. I like a lot of cheese in my quiche. Here’s the how-to:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.
2. Get out your pillsbury dough boy pie crust and place it in a pie pan. If you can make your own crust, by all means, go for it. Julia Child has a great recipe for that too, and so does Michael Ruhlman in RATIO. I haven’t ventured there yet, mostly because I’m afraid I’ll like it and have to do it every time.
3. Eggy mixture. This is Julia’s no-fail ratio. Beat three eggs and add enough milk to get to 1.5 cups of mixture. I mix it right in my four-cup mixing cup.
4. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Nutmeg is that key flavor you need, like in a good bechamel.
5. Chop your veggies, anywhere between 1/2 cup and a cup. Spinach or broccoli are good stand-bys. A recent experiment I tried came out great: parsley and shallots. Mushrooms and scallions might be my next experiment.
6. Do a super-fast sautee of your veggies in butter. You don’t want to cook the color out of them. Even thirty seconds is enough for some veggies.  Throw them in your mixing cup or bowl with the eggy mixture.
7. Grate about 3/4 of a cup of cheese. I like a flavorful cheese like gruyere or emmentaler. Throw about 1/2 cup of the cheese into the mixture.
8. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and then top with the remaining cheese.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes (Julia says 35, but mine seem to need more – could be my oven, so check after 35).

It’s been coming out perfect every time for me! How does this work for you?