This colourful Christmas quiche is a gorgeous dish to serve for your holiday luncheon or festive gathering. Bright red bell pepper and tender green spinach add holiday cheer to the silky, cheesy filling. Use your favourite premade pastry or the foolproof gluten-free pie crust recipe included. Make the quiche a day ahead and reheat it for easy entertaining. Check out our luncheon menu, photos, and tips for inspiration for your own celebration!
It's time for holiday celebrations. Friends, family, and all the important people in your life. Time to gather around the table, make connections, and make memories.
Like we did with our foodie friends, Nicoletta and Loreto of SugarLoveSpices. We had another wonderful feast and enjoyed a memorable holiday luncheon.
What a grand time Nicoletta and I had pooling our holiday dishes and decorations and planning the menu. Then, on the day, we all got together to prepare this easy feast and celebrate in style. This is what the spirit of the holidays is all about. Candleglow and laughter, hugs and stories, and joyful togetherness. We hope you are inspired to host your own gathering. Plan an easy menu, or use ideas from ours, make this delicious Christmas quiche, and spend some happy hours around a festive table.
Last year we hosted a late-morning holiday brunch, this year it was an early afternoon luncheon. Both festive, but different. Less breakfast foods, more savouries, a cocktail or two, and lots of sweet nibbles. The Christmas Quiche made a memorable main course. I'll be making it again often.
Set a Pretty Table
We had such fun mixing and matching. A festive holiday tablecloth became the backdrop for our gold-themed decor. Lustrous charger plates anchored a vintage set of holly-bordered china topped by white and gold poinsettia salad plates. Gold napkins, napkin rings, and cutlery added their rich glow, along with gold serving utensils and gold touches on the cocktail glasses and holiday platters. A tablescape of gold-brushed wooden trees, bottlebrush trees, a white-and-gold reindeer, and china candleholders with white tapers perched amongst a scattering of golden jingle bells. White poinsettias added that touch of fresh flowers we so love.
A Holiday Luncheon Menu
Cocktails and Appetizers
Winter Spritz Cocktail
Italian Warm Marinated Olives, Flax and Almond Crackers
Main Course
Festive Christmas Quiche
Root Vegetable Salad with Feta & Walnuts
Spicy Pickled Mushrooms
Salad Course
Holiday Citrus Salad
Dessert
Yogurt Pannacotta with Pomegranate Jelly
Crunchy Almond Dacquoise Biscuits
Dried Figs, Nuts, and Chocolates
Beverages
Coffee, Sparkling Water
Easy and Tasty Menu Ideas
Most of the delicious dishes for this holiday menu can be made ahead, some even weeks ahead, like the crackers, pickled mushrooms, and crunchy almond biscuits. You can make the Christmas quiche, pannacotta, and roast the veggies the day ahead. Then you'll only need to mix the root veg salad, and make the warm olives and the citrus salad that morning. Mix up the cocktails as your guests arrive and your party is ready to go.
This menu happens to be meatless - you could always add a platter of sliced baked ham or roast beef, or a small plate of charcuterie to please the meat lovers in your crowd, if you wish.
Start with Cocktails and Appetizers
- Winter Spritz Cocktail - this fruity variation of the beloved Aperol Spritz contains prosecco, Aperol, sparkling blood orange juice, and cinnamon bitters (or other favourite bitters of choice).
- Italian Warm Marinated Olives - Nicoletta and Loreto's special dish of warm olives with seasonings and citrus zest - so moreish.
- Flax and Almond Crackers - these crunchy crackers are a variation of my Flax & Hazelnut Crackers, using almond flour instead of ground hazelnuts, golden flax (ground and whole) instead of regular flax, and adding a ½ teaspoon of cracked black pepper. I just made them into smaller squares and baked them like in the recipe.
A Mouthwatering Main Course
- Festive Christmas Quiche - (recipe below) This creamy quiche with the flaky crust will become a favourite that's tasty any time of year!
- Root Vegetable Salad - roast up a pan of comforting root vegetables, add walnuts and feta cheese and a zesty dressing for a serving of comfort food. It's delicious warm or at room temperature.
- Spicy Pickled Mushrooms - these pickles pack a punch of flavour and can be made well ahead. Having a jar in the fridge is a lifesaver.
A Palate Cleanser Course
- Holiday Citrus Salad - this palate-cleansing third course is made easily from fresh chunks of grapefruit, orange, clementine, and crunchy pomegranate seeds, along with a squeeze of lemon juice and a slurp of Grand Marnier liqueur.
And End with a Sweet Dessert
- This silky pannacotta is made with the tang of yogurt and topped with a fresh gelée of pomegranate juice and a scattering or pomegranate arils.
- Almond dacquoise biscuits are topped with bits of green pistachios and baked to crispy deliciousness
- Dried figs are sweet and chewy with a confetti of crunchy seeds inside. Serve a plate of nuts in their shells and chocolate or candies to nibble on with your coffee as you sit and visit long after the meal is done - that's the best part.
Now let's get on to making that Christmas Quiche.
Ingredients Needed
How to Make a Festive Christmas Quiche
Start with your favourite pastry crust recipe, a purchased pie-crust, or use my foolproof gluten-free pastry crust. Roll it out in a tart pan, then sauté a chopped onion and red bell pepper in a bit of butter and let cool. In the same pan, sauté a few handfuls of fresh spinach (or other green vegetable). Whip up some eggs, spices and light cream and grate a bunch of cheese.
Then start layering:
Then Bake It
Bake your Christmas Quiche until it's burnished a rich gold and the center is still slightly jiggly. It's a stunning holiday luncheon centerpiece.
A Gorgeous Christmas Quiche
The crust is buttery and tender - I used my favourite gluten-free pastry recipe, but you can use any recipe you like, or even pre-made pastry. The cheesy filling is silky and creamy, just set to a quivering custardy texture. Bits of sautéed sweet red pepper, onions, and bright green spinach provide those festive colours. It'll reignite your love for quiche! And best of all, you can even make this Christmas Quiche the day before, and reheat it to lukewarm for your holiday feast.
Head over to SugarLoveSpices to see Nicoletta and Loreto's photos and stories of our lovely holiday luncheon, and find their recipe for the addictive Italian Warm Marinated Olives there.
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Guten Appetit!
Christmas Quiche
Equipment
- a 9-inch (23 cm) deep dish tart pan with a removable bottom or deep dish pie plate, or a 10-inch (25 cm) quiche pan
Ingredients
- 1 pastry crust for a 9-inch (23 cm) pie (gluten-free or regular) plus 8 small star cutouts of pastry from the scraps
- my foolproof gluten-free pastry crust recipe here if needed
For the Quiche Filling:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion, diced about 150 g
- 1 red, sweet bell pepper, diced ½" (1 cm)
- 5 oz (140 g) baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
- 2 cups (200 g) shredded aged cheddar or gouda cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ cups (360 ml) light cream (10% milkfat)
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- dash of cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425℉ (220℃).
- Roll out the pastry crust (if using the gluten-free crust, roll it between two sheets of parchment paper) and fit it into the pan, gently pushing it down right into the corners. Trim off the top level with the tart pan.
- Sauté the diced onion and bell pepper in the butter for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Remove them to a plate to cool.
- In the same pan, add the spinach. If it is dry, add 1 tablespoon water. (Omit if the spinach is wet.) Cook and stir the spinach just until it is wilted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush the top surface of the pastry star cutouts. Spoon out about 2 teaspoons of the beaten eggs into a small dish to use for brushing the edge of the pastry crust after the pie is filled.
- To the remaining beaten eggs, add the nutmeg, salt, pepper, cayenne, and cream. Whisk until smooth.
- Layer ⅓ of the shredded cheese in the bottom of the crust. Spread the cooled peppers and onions on top, and reserve a few squares of red pepper to add to the top of the pie for spots of colour.
- Spread the cooled and drained spinach on top of the peppers.
- Add the remaining cheese, then pour over the beaten eggs and cream.
- Lay the pastry stars gently on top of the pie (egg side up) in a circle near the outer edge, and tuck the reserved red pepper cubes randomly on top of the pie to add pops of red colour.
- Gently roll down the outer crust so it comes just above the level of the filling and brush it carefully with the bit of beaten egg you reserved.
- Bake the quiche for 15 minutes at 425℉℃ (220℃) then reduce the heat to 350℉ (180℃) and bake for 30 more minutes. The top should be golden brown in spots and still slightly soft and jiggly in the center.
- Allow the quiche to cool for 15- 20 minutes before cutting it into wedges. Serve it lukewarm or at room temperature.
Nicoletta
What a delicious quiche it was! And what a fantastic menu, too ;). We so enjoy our time together!
Margaret
Thanks so much, Nicoletta. It really was a special luncheon, and it felt like Christmas with all the warmth and joy we had as we cooked, feasted, and visited. We loved it so much.
Mimi Rippee
It’s a very festive quiche! Thank you!
http://www.chefmimiblog.com
Margaret
Thank you so much. Merry Christmas! 🎄