Ham and Smoked Gouda Quiche

Quiche is a wonderful Sunday brunch treat. This ham and smoked gouda quiche is easy to make, can be prepared well in advance, tastes great hot or cold, and goes great with a light salad, home fries, or grits.

All it really takes to whip up a decent quiche is a pre-made pie crust, some eggs, cream, milk, and whatever cheese or toppings you can think of to throw in.

Quiche recipes are infinitely adaptable and ready for experimentation, which makes them an awesome vehicle for the bounty of a farm share or CSA. If you start with a basic quiche ratio, 1 egg for every cup of liquid/dairy, you can begin to build almost infinite flavor combinations using your favorite ingredients or whatever you have laying around.

Try making a spinach quiche with sauteed onions and gruyere, or a tomato, basil, and mozzarella quiche when your garden starts to spit out tomatoes at the end of summer. You can also pack your quiche with flavor by using things like ham, bacon, sausage, or tempeh.

Ham and Smoked Gouda cheese are one of my favorite quiche combinations. The salty deli ham I use in this recipe and the rich savory Smoked Gouda combines to create a wonderful experience.

You can use whatever ham you like, but when I can I like to use country ham whenever possible.

Country ham is a southern staple that I like to fit into as many recipes as I possibly can. Saltier, and drier than normal “city” style hams, country ham is much more like prosciutto or Serrano and has become one of my absolute favorite indulgences.

Edward’s makes some of the best country ham I have had the opportunity to try. Head on over to their online store and order a country ham delivered straight to your door!

Don’t worry if you can’t find country ham, or if you want to use something with lower sodium or a different flavor. I didn’t have any country ham on hand for this quiche recipe so I went ahead with a classic deli ham from my local grocery store.

Can’t find smoked gouda cheese? Don’t worry a Muenster, Swiss, or Havarti will do just fine. Alternatively, Cheddar works in almost anything!

Regardless of what type of cheese you choose to use in this recipe, one of the most important steps you can take to ensuring a perfect quiche has nothing to do with the fillings. Before I begin any of my other preparations, one of my first steps when building a quiche is to blind-bake the crust.

Blind-baking simply means to prebake your crust before filling it to ensure a crispy crust and satisfying ham and gouda quiche experience.

You can do this by setting your oven to 325°F and rolling your pie crust into a deep-dish pie pan. I like to weigh my crust down with dried beans to help keep it flat and even. It’s important to put a layer of parchment paper between the beans and the crust so you don’t’ accidentally make a dried bean and quiche and bean art project.

This is going to lengthen the prep time, but it’s absolutely worth it to have your rich creamy quiche surrounded in a crust that will stay crisp for days if you have any leftovers.

While the quiche crust blind bakes I like to take a moment to mix my batter so it is ready to fill as soon as it cools a bit from the oven. In a large bowl, combine 4 large eggs, 1 cup cream, 1 cup whole milk, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, and 1/2 tsp paprika.

Once the mixture is well mixed you can set it aside until needed.

Once you have blind baked your crust you can go ahead and start to fill your quiche with ham and smoked gouda cheese.

I have never found shredded smoked gouda cheese in the store, but that’s not an issue, just buy a small wheel and grate as much as you need. I’ll often overmeasure and add about a 1/4 cup extra to my quiche recipe which is just fine, or you can just snack on some shredded gouda while the quiche bakes!

I like to layer my quiche by filling the bottom with cheese and ham, then pouring the batter carefully into the quiche pan. It’s important to fill the quiche pan almost to the top, leaving a bit of room for expansion as the quiche cooks. I would rather discard some extra batter than overfill my quiche.

Before filling the quiche with batter, place the pie pan onto a baking dish or tray to help avoid spills or burnt batter falling to the bottom of your oven.

Pour the batter into the bottom of the pan with care, making sure not to splash or break the pie crust with the weight of the falling liquid. Once the quiche is filled, carefully place the baking tray with the pie pan on top into your oven at 325°-350°F for 30-40 minutes.

Your quiche will need to bake for 30-40 minutes depending on the size and heat profile of your oven.

At the halfway point you’ll notice the edge of the quiche beginning to set, the middle of the quiche will continue to remain unbaked and runny right up until the final minutes of the baking process.

Once you start to see the center of the quiche begin to set, start checking on the quiche every few minutes. Once the top domes slightly you can remove the quiche from the oven.

One way to really make this quiche as indulgent as possible is to top it with an additional 1/2 cup of shredded gouda and return it to the oven for another 10 minutes. You could also use the broil setting on your oven to crisp the very top layer of cheese to golden brown perfection!

Once the quiche has completely set, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool before serving.

I like to serve this gouda & ham quiche for breakfast or brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. It works perfectly accompanied by some hash browns or a light salad of arugula and fresh veggies. I like to use a citrus-based, vinaigrette style salad dressing to offset the salty richness of the quiche. Adding fresh orange or citrus segments and almonds can create a fantastic combination.

This quiche will make enough for a large family or 4-6 friends depending on your guest’s appetite.

If you have any leftovers, they will keep the best refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat simply place a slice of quiche into your oven or toaster oven and bake for 5-10 minutes depending on the size of your slice.

Follow the detailed recipe below to make this delicious Ham and Smoked Gouda Quiche for yourself!

What are some of your favorite quiche recipes? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll be sure to give them a try!

Not in the mood for a savory smokey brunch item? Try the recipe for this delicious ginger spice cake instead!