Leftover Tortillas? Make a Quiche
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I hate wasting food. I really do. But sometimes, I stash things in the freezer merely to avoid the guilt of trashing food at the present moment. By “things” I mean 4 tortillas or 6 egg whites or the heels of a loaf of bread. I have good intentions. I really do. With the tortillas, I envision making a quick wrap for lunch one day. With the egg whites, an angel food cake. With the bread, homemade croutons.
These things sit — preserved, certainly — but effectively, trashed. Inevitably, I clean out the freezer several months down the road and toss the cracked tortillas and frost-encrusted heels of bread into the garbage can.
Anyway, last weekend, I rescued four flour tortillas from meeting their cold fate. When I spotted them in my fridge, I recalled a recipe I had seen on the Blue Heron Farm Web site for asparagus quiche that used tortillas as a shell. And then I played a game called “use every possible item of food in your fridge that can be sautéed and packed into a quiche shell.” Never played? Give it a go. It’s a great time. What’s most fun about the game is that there are no rules: Expiration dates should be overlooked; mold, scraped away and sent down the disposal; shriveled, wilted vegetables, scrubbed and chopped as if they were new.
I wish I could say I were exaggerating. I’m not. I cut off serious mold from a pepper. I gave a block of cheese a chemical peel. I browned a questionable piece of several-days-old hamburger meat. The result? A yummy yummy quiche.
Tortilla Quiche
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 quiche
Ingredients
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 2 chipotles in adobo, minced
- 1 hot chili pepper, diced
- 1 tomato, chopped
- leftover sautéed leeks, sliced
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- cilantro, minced
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Sauté peppers and onions and such together. (I also had a leftover uncooked hamburger patty, so about 6 ounces of ground beef.) Season with salt and pepper. Add zucchini and tomatoes and cooked leeks. Add cilantro at the end. Note: This is just what I had on hand — use anything you have.
- Line a buttered dish, such as a 9-inch round baking or pie pan, with about 4 tortillas.Whisk together 3 eggs with 1/2 cup of milk in a large bowl. Add the prepped ingredients. Add the cheese and stir.
- Pour into prepared tortilla-lined pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until set. Mixture should jiggle just slightly when shaken.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting. Ta-da! A simple simple quiche.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
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31 Comments on “Leftover Tortillas? Make a Quiche”
This looks great! I hate to waste food also and know about the game you play:)
Ok, this is a fantastic idea! I’m so going to use tortillas next time! Love it!
should I be concerned about all the treats you’ve so kindly shared with me? haha, just kiddin. i’ll eat anything you give me. you know that.
good rescue work!
BRILLIANT dish!!!
I hate wasting food too! You came up with an amazing dish in no time! Nice work!
I think we were separated at birth. You’re brilliant. I love this.
What a beautiful dish! I love all the colors.
A great idea! Delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
Impressive! Very creative and cost conscious to boot. Not to mention, looks delish.
Great job, I know exactly what you mean about stuffing things in the freezer thinking I will get around to using them at a later time.
Hey, I guess the meat wasn’t so questionable after all 😉 This version is healthier too, since we avoided all that solid fat in the crust! Yum!
That’s really a cool idea! I wouldn’t have thought about it.
And what’s a little mold on cheese, right? Just makes it more flavorful.
What a great idea! Your freezer and my freezer should go out on a date because they have SO much in common! I too can’t do it on account of the guilt, so I have 1/2 cans of soup and 3 pieces of grilled chicken for a rainy day. It is so sad! And pathetic!
This seriously looks great. I just made homemade tortillas tonite for the first time, I think I shall try this for the one really big one leftover!
first of all, i love the word quiche. secondly, i’m right there with ya as far as food-wasting goes. my freezer is ridiculous. this is a great idea, and frankly, that’s the most appealing quiche i think i’ve ever seen. 🙂
Seeing that I love tortillas this is a great way to make a quiche, wonderful suggestion, thanks.
I LOVE YOU for this recipe! What a great idea. I love all your photos too. I’m definitely making a mexican quiche with a tortilla crust as soon as possible.
wow I really like this idea, and i’m right there with you on the wasting… 🙂
Oh my! This is the best quiche ever! I hate wasting too. This is awesome, even if you don’t have leftovers!
This is a gret idea! I have tortillas in my fridge right now and I never know what to do with them before the edges start getting stale and stiff. I love recipes where you can mix and match – I would probably make this veggie with a little bit of everything I had on hand and a few different kinds of cheeese.
Nice idea to use up leftovers and it looks great 🙂
This looks so tempting! I’m sitting on the couch next to my husband and when I opened your blog I turned to him and said, “That looks goooood.” I am so making this. 😉
What a wonderful idea. I love the picture.
This is a great idea Alexsandra. Why hadn’t I though of it before. This is how to enjoy quiche during a busty work week:D
This is a great idea! I might even buy tortillas to make this, rather than waiting for leftovers…
I loved this game – and apparently, you can play it with tortillas that are 6 weeks out of date too! Just makes the edges a little crispier.
That is just fantastic. I will definitely be reminded of this next time I have a bunch of random old things in the refrigerator, but especially when I have tortillas headed for the trash (which is often, because it’s hard to use them with only 2 people in the house!).
Everyone else has already said it but I have to chime in, this is brilliant! I am doing all of my quiches this way from now on. I brushed the exposed tortilla with olive oil before baking, and it emerged with the perfect crispy texture! I love quiche but hate messing with pie crust. So thank you for this great idea!!!!! I can’t wait to try this with spinach tortillas next…
★★★★★
This was a wonderful guide and truly elevated quiche! Turns out I prefer tortillas to real crust? Bizarre given my love for butter…Added chard stems, onions, zucchini and bell pepper and parm. no meat. Delicious.
★★★★★
So great to hear this, Lauren! Love the idea of adding chard stems here, too.
Should milk and eggs be included on the ingredient list?
Yep! Thank you 🙂 Just updated the recipe.