Broccoli and Stilton Quiche

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This creamy Broccoli and Stilton Quiche bakes right in a cast iron pan and is good any time of the day, from brunch to dinner. Enjoy the goodness of tender broccoli, the richness of Stilton cheese, and the zesty pop of sun-dried tomatoes.

sun dried tomato quiche in cast iron pan with plates, glasses, and ingredients

I can't remember the last time I made a quiche. I've had several rubbery bland quiches at cafes and that kind of killed my interest in them. Yet, as is so often the case, when I went to make one of my own, it turned out so much better. It was silky and creamy in a way that seems really impressive for something that's more or less beaten eggs and cream baked in a pie crust with some add-in ingredients for flavor.

This is the perfect breakfast dish - good for a lazy weekend hanging out at home yet also nice enough for a get-together. It also works well for any meal of the day. It's just as tasty cold from the fridge as it is warm from the oven. You know, just in case you want to go back for another slice a little later on. And, spoiler alert, you will.

For a special brunch occasion, pair this quiche recipe with my Easy Cheese and Chive Scones, maybe this Cauliflower Potato Leek Soup, and a Gin and Elderflower Tonic.

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🥦Ingredients
🧀Substitutions and Variations
🍳Instructions
🥡Storage
📋FAQ
Broccoli and Stilton Quiche

🥦Ingredients

All you need are six ingredients to make this quiche. And salt and pepper, but who's counting?

Pie dough makes a tender crust for the quiche. Use store-bought if you don't have time to make your own, otherwise, use your favorite recipe to prepare one layer of pie crust dough. You can always make a double batch (or a standard recipe that makes enough for a top and bottom crust) and freeze half for future use. If making your own, add a teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves to the dough for some extra earthy flavor.
Light cream or half and half makes for a rich custardy egg filling for the quiche.
Of course, you can't have a quiche without eggs.
Broccoli works well as a vegetable in this quiche because it cooks nicely within the egg mixture when chopped up small.
Stilton cheese is a soft and crumbly English blue cheese that creates a creamy texture when it melts into the quiche.
Sun-dried tomatoes add a fun bite of savory tomato flavor. If your sun-dried tomatoes are packed in olive oil, pat them dry before using. These ones from Bella Sun Luci are a good choice if you need a recommendation.
Kosher salt because you always need salt in cooking.

See the recipe card below for all of the specific quantities.

Let's be clear, the star of this dish is the Stilton cheese. Stilton is an English blue cheese made with locally produced and pasteurized milk from three counties in central England.

Stilton is creamy, crumbly, and savory with some salty and nutty notes. Like any good cheese, it's complex. I don't always enjoy blue cheeses, but I find Stilton to be less overwhelming than others and it melts beautifully into the egg custard of this quiche.

Learn more about Stilton.

If you can't find Stilton, a good substitute is Gorgonzola. Although Gorgonzola is an Italian cheese, people often mistake Stilton and Gorgonzola for each other because they're just that similar.

🧀Substitutions and Variations

I'm always substituting and changing recipes. Here are a few ideas on how you could alter this Broccoli, Stilton, and Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche and make it your own.

Swap broccoli for asparagus. Chop it up small and use an equal amount.
Try another cheese. I mentioned that Gorgonzola is a good alternative to Stilton, but feel free to play around with other cheeses as well. Even a basic cheddar would be good.
Swap out the cream for milk if you're looking to save a few calories. But honestly, I'm not sure it's worth the sacrifice in flavor and creaminess. I find that half and half is a good compromise. If you don't already have half and half, use half cream and half milk in the recipe.
Skip the cast iron pan. In the recipe, I tell you to make the quiche in a cast iron pan. But that's not essential. I think the cast iron helps ensure a well-baked crust and it's a good option if you don't have a pie pan. But it's not necessary. If you do have a pie pan handy, feel free to use that instead.

🍳Instructions

Here's how to make this Broccoli, Stilton, and Sun Dried tomato quiche.

Start by pressing your pie dough into the bottom of a 9-inch cast iron pan. Put in the freezer for 10 minutes, then use a fork to prick holes throughout the dough. This helps to reduce puffing up while it blind bakes. Preheat oven to 425 F.

pie weights being poured into the quiche crust

Place parchment over the dough and add pie weights. Bake for 12 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 F, remove the weights and parchment, and bake for another 10 minutes. This process is called blind baking.

broccoli, stilton and sundried tomatoes chopped up and on plates

Chop the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and Stilton. Set aside a small amount of tomatoes and cheese for topping.

Stilton cheese added to bottom of baked quiche crust

Sprinkle some of the Stilton across the bottom of the baked quiche crust.

sun dried tomatoes being added to quiche

Add the broccoli, more cheese, and sundried tomatoes.

eggs and cream being whisked for the quiche

Whisk the eggs, cream, and salt until smooth.

quiche batter being poured into crust in cast iron pan

Pour in the beaten egg mixture.

uncooked stilton, sun dried tomato and broccoli quiche in cast iron pan ready for baking

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees until mostly set and just slightly wiggly in the middle. Let cool 15 minutes, then top with the remaining tomatoes and cheese before serving.

Hint: Don't worry if you don't have pie weights! You can use dried beans or rice instead. You need just enough to mostly cover the bottom of the pan and dough. The point of the weights is to keep the dough from puffing up or shrinking down during the blind baking process.

🥡Storage

One of the reasons why I think quiches in restaurants aren't always very good is because they're often not fresh. That said, store this quiche wrapped in the fridge and eat this within two days for the best taste and texture. After that, it'll be fine to eat for another day or so, but just not as good in quality.

You can also remove it from the pan, wrap it well, and freeze this quiche after baking. Eat within two months by reheating in the oven at 350 degrees F until defrosted and warmed through.

Either way, don't let the quiche sit out for more than a couple of hours on the counter at room temperature.

broccoli and stilton quiche in a pan with plates, glasses and serving spatula

📋FAQ

How do you keep the bottom crust of quiche from getting soggy?

You can prevent a soggy quiche bottom by blind-baking the crust. That's what you call it when you pre-bake a crust without the filling and that's exactly what I have you do in this recipe. Quiche filling is just too liquidy to skip the blind bake part of the recipe.

Do you grease the tin for quiche?

You don't need to grease the cast iron pan for this quiche. if you're using a pie or tart tin, you don't need to grease those either. There is enough butter in the pie dough that it'll keep things from sticking.

Should vegetables be cooked before putting in quiche?

It depends. In this recipe, the broccoli is chopped up so small that it cooks fine in the time that it takes to bake the quiche. But if you were using other vegetables, like onions and peppers, I'd suggest cooking those before adding them to the quiche.

Can I make quiche in advance?

Definitely. This quiche would be great baked a day in advance and kept wrapped in the fridge until ready to serve. You can warm it up in the oven to your liking or let it get to room temp first. Though, it's even good cold from the fridge.