If you’re looking for a delicious savory quiche to add to your menu, then this Maple Sausage, Sliced Fennel, and Gouda Quiche is a must-try. This dish is sure to please with its slightly sweet maple flavor, tender yet slightly crunchy sliced fennel, rich and creamy cheesy egg filling, and flaky buttery crust. Whether you opt for a homemade pie crust or a store-bought one, this quiche is sure to be a hit.
Around this time of year, so many of us are on a desperate and somewhat relentless mission to clean out our fridges so that we have enough room to cram a twenty-pound turkey into a space that is barely big enough to fit an itty bitty pound of hamburger. In my case, prepping for the Thanksgiving Day meal means finding a way to use many of the ingredients that have been living in my fridge rent-free for weeks, or possibly even months, so that I have enough room to store everything required to make a huge feast on the big gobble, gobble, gobble turkey day.
This year’s leftover ingredients, that needed to be used to make space, were a warehouse store-sized wedge of gouda, a bulb of fennel, and a carton of eggs I originally purchased to make deviled eggs, but never quite got around to before the weather changed sending pretty much everyone I know into squirreling themselves away inside to stay warm. Thankfully, along with the cheese, fennel, and eggs, I also just so happened to have a store-bought refrigerated pie crust and some leftover maple sausage patties in the fridge as well.
So, there was clearly only one obvious thing to make. Quiche. Quiche is probably one of my favorite all-time things to make. It’s great for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it’s an easy recipe to use up leftover bits of cheese, and almost any meat or vegetable tastes great when combined with a flaky pie crust, eggs, and lots of cheese. And, as an added bonus, if you live in a two-person household like we do, one quiche is easily enough for two separate meals. Quite honestly, I’m not sure why B.O.B. Bob and I don’t eat quiche every single dang day of the week.
Ingredients:
- 1 Pie Crust
- 4 Extra-Large Eggs
- 1/2 Cup Whole Milk
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg
- 8-oz. Freshly Shredded Gouda
- 1 Large Fennel Bulb
- 6 Maple Sausage Patties, Browned & Diced
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If using a refrigerated pie crust, allow the pie crust to stand at room temperature while the oven is preheating.
- Place the pie crust in an ungreased 9-inch pie plate or pie dish. Press the crust firmly against the side and bottom. Fold the excess pie crust under and press it together with your thumb and index finger to form a thick fluted edge. Prick the bottom and side of the pie crust with a fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.
- After removing the pie crust from the oven, decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, heavy cream, pepper, salt, and nutmeg together.
- Cut the fennel bulb into thin slices. Discard the woody root end and the fibrous stalks. Reserve the fennel fronds for garnishing.
- Spread 1/3 of the cheese into the bottom of the baked pie crust. Arrange 1/2 of the sliced fennel over the cheese. Arrange all of the diced cooked sausage over the sliced fennel. Pour 1/2 of the egg mixture over the sausage layer. Spread another 1/3 of the cheese over the egg mixture. Arrange the remaining fennel slices over the second layer of cheese. Spread the remaining cheese over the fennel. Pour the remaining egg mixture over all of the other ingredients.
- Wrap thin strips of foil around the edge of the pie plate or pie dish and the pie crust to prevent it from burning. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the center of the quiche is puffed and no longer wobbles.
- Allow the quiche to rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Garnish the quiche with the fennel fronds.
Suggestions:
- I used one refrigerated ready-to-bake pie crust for this recipe. I, personally, prefer refrigerated pie crusts to frozen pie crusts. They taste better and you can use them with your own pie plate or pie dish, unlike the frozen variety. You can use whichever type of pie crust you prefer. If you would like to make your own pie crust, CLICK HERE for our Simple Stand Mixer Pie Crust recipe. Just make sure that you prebake your pie crust to prevent the crust from becoming soggy.
- I always use extra-large eggs. If you are using smaller eggs, you may want to add an additional egg to this recipe.
- Most packages of maple sausage patties will come with 8 patties in a 12-oz. package. I used 6 patties for this recipe because we had already had two for breakfast one morning. You can use 6 or 8 patties in this quiche; it won’t make that much of a difference. Also, I used patties instead of loose sausage or links because I prefer their texture in quiche.
- Quiche is one of those recipes you can make over and over again with the same ingredients and each time it will take a different amount of time to bake. After 45 minutes of baking, check on the quiche every 5 minutes. Also, take a look at the pie crust edge to see if you need to remove the foil after 45 minutes of baking. It may be perfectly browned already, or it may need extra time to turn golden brown.
Improvements:
- If you like things a bit spicier, whisk a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes into the egg mixture.
- Add a 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder to the egg mixture.
- Replace the gouda with cheddar, havarti, edam, or smoked gouda.
- For a double dose of fennel, serve this quiche with this Fennel & Tomato Italian Vinaigrette Salad.
Ingredients:
- 1 Pie Crust
- 4 Extra-Large Eggs
- 1/2 Cup Whole Milk
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg
- 8-oz. Freshly Shredded Gouda
- 1 Large Fennel Bulb
- 6 Maple Sausage Patties, Browned & Diced
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If using a refrigerated pie crust, allow the pie crust to stand at room temperature while the oven is preheating.
- Place the pie crust in an ungreased 9-inch pie plate or pie dish. Press the crust firmly against the side and bottom. Fold the excess pie crust under and press it together with your thumb and index finger to form a thick fluted edge. Prick the bottom and side of the pie crust with a fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.
- After removing the pie crust from the oven, decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, heavy cream, pepper, salt, and nutmeg together.
- Cut the fennel bulb into thin slices. Discard the woody root end and the fibrous stalks. Reserve the fennel fronds for garnishing.
- Spread 1/3 of the cheese into the bottom of the baked pie crust. Arrange 1/2 of the sliced fennel over the cheese. Arrange all of the diced cooked sausage over the sliced fennel. Pour 1/2 of the egg mixture over the sausage layer. Spread another 1/3 of the cheese over the egg mixture. Arrange the remaining fennel slices over the second layer of cheese. Spread the remaining cheese over the fennel. Pour the remaining egg mixture over all of the other ingredients.
- Wrap thin strips of foil around the edge of the pie plate or pie dish and the pie crust to prevent it from burning. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the center of the quiche is puffed and no longer wobbles.
- Allow the quiche to rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Garnish the quiche with the fennel fronds.
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Cracker Crumb Topped Fennel & Carrot Quiche
Make sure to check out all of the other great Sunday Funday “Clean Out the Fridge/Leftovers” recipes below. A huge thanks to Sneha’s Recipe for hosting this event.
- Leftover Pork Ragu from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Maple Sausage, Sliced Fennel, & Gouda Quiche from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Overnight Dinner Roll French Toast Bake from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
- Keto Pork & Chicken Mexican Lasagna from Sneha’s Recipe
- Turkey and Cranberry Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Blogghetti
