It’s summer time, and we all know what that means: it’s zucchini season! As an apartment dweller, I am only tangentially aware of the late July bumper crop that takes over everyone’s backyard gardens. But thanks to the awesome family members and friends who have their own gardens, I have not been left out of the summer squash bounty. On Sunday I was gifted a lovely, humongous zucchini and was immediately inspired for Monday’s dinner plans.
But what to do? I didn’t want to resort to my go-to squash recipes of rustic ratatouille or uber-healthy zoodles. I wanted something a little different and I also wanted to incorporate ingredients that I already had in my kitchen. I thought it would be fun to make something handheld that would feature shredded zuke (because for some reason, I just had a hankering to shred the entire dang thing – my biceps are thanking me today).
I ended up with an idea for mini quiches cooked up in a muffin tin. But after the aforementioned shredding exercise, I wasn’t really feeling the whole crust-making endeavor so I settled for crust-less quiches. You could certainly prepare these with crusts or incorporate bread crumbs into the mixture for a savory touch. I wanted to add toasted hemp hearts to mine but totally forgot about it until they were in the oven. Whoops!
Anyway, to prepare the crust-less zucchini quiche cups, you’re going to want to assemble the following ingredients:
Shredded zucchini
You’ll need two cups for this recipe so depending on the size of your zuke, you may need one whole small squash or just part of a larger one.
Peppers (optional)
I was planning on featuring the zucchini all on its lonesome but when I opened the refrigerator, a bag of mini peppers jumped off of the shelf and into my arms so I decided to include them. They added a lovely color to the final product and a delightful crunch that I would have otherwise missed.
The Supporting Cast
Toss into the veggie four eggs and a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese mix together. I used my hands for this part but you could probably just use a plain old spoon if you’re averse to dirty fingers.
Flavors
I went pretty simple in spicing this dish – garlic salt, pepper, green Tabasco sauce, and a dash of paprika. Yum.
Once everything is nicely mixed, pour your concoction into a muffin tin. This mixture is relatively loose, so you’re going to want to fill the cups about two-thirds of the way full. It wasn’t until I pulled this out of the oven that I realized this reality. I got eight overflowing, kind of messy mini quiches from this recipe, but ideally you should get nine or ten.
Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, or until firm and slightly golden around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.
We enjoyed these as a light summer dinner, but they would certainly be excellent for breakfast or brunch. You could even cook up a batch, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and a Ziploc, and toss them into the freezer for quick, tasty breakfasts all week.
Crustless Zucchini Quiche Cups
(Raising Rystedts)
Ingredients:
2 cups zucchini (shredded)
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
4 eggs
1 cup diced pepper (optional)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
10 sprinkles green Tabasco sauce1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Combine zucchini, pepper, egg, and cheese in mixing bowl. Mix to incorporate ingredients together. Add spices.
3) Use a ladle to fill 10 muffin cups with egg and zucchini mixture. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
4) Cool and serve.
