I’m obsessed with cottage cheese, but I have two modes with it—either I eat the whole container in one sitting, or I eat half and forget about the rest in the fridge until it’s just about to expire. So I almost always end up with half a container of cottage cheese, a bit of Bulgarian cheese, and some sour cream I opened with no idea what to do with the leftovers. When I realize that’s the situation, I mix everything together and make rolls or a quiche.
So this time, I decided to take all the cheeses I had, along with some broccoli I had thawed the day before for a stir-fry that never happened, and make a truly, truly excellent crustless broccoli quiche. And more than the recipe itself, I really want to explain the logic here so you can play around with what you have at home and not run out to buy exactly what I used. The whole idea is to use what you already have in your fridge and pantry.
So here are some important tips and substitutions:
– You need about 2 cups of soft cheese here. That can be cottage cheese, farmer’s cheese, ricotta, sour cream, Bulgarian cheese, feta, yogurt, cream cheese—any fat percentage. Whatever you have. The main thing is roughly 2 cups total. Important: if you’re using more than 3.5 oz (100 g) of feta or Bulgarian cheese, skip the salt.
– Instead of broccoli, you can use corn, diced sweet potato, grated zucchini, thawed frozen cauliflower (or cooked cauliflower), and many other vegetables—or combine them. About 2 cups total (you can even go up to 3). If you’re unsure about a vegetable, message me on Instagram—I usually see everything there.
– You can grate any hard cheese here: mozzarella, Edam, gouda, cheddar, etc. Any fat percentage works.
– Instead of oats, you can add 2 more tablespoons of flour or lentil flour.
– Instead of flour, you can add 2 more tablespoons of oats, lentil flour, or substitute with spelt flour (white or whole). Keep in mind this will alter the texture and airiness.
– If your mixture comes out too runny, add another tablespoon of flour.
– Onion and/or olives aren’t critical—but if you have them, add them.
– If you have garlic powder or granulated garlic, you can add 1/2 teaspoon.
And one last thing—I don’t add oil to this quiche. You don’t really need it, but if you want it richer, you can add 3–4 tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter.