Sausage, Kale, & Potato Quiche

Today's recipe is a take on my favorite soup: Zuppa Toscana! This classic Italian soup typically features Italian sausage, bacon, potatoes, kale, chicken broth and cream. It's absolutely delicious! My first introduction to the soup was actually at Olive Garden many, many years ago but it has stuck with me since. My favorite recipe for making the soup can be found here.

I had a hankering for quiche (okay, mainly for pie crust) and as I was thinking about the ingredients I wanted to include, I realized that it was basically Zuppa Toscana! This quiche differs a bit from the traditional soup, as I omit cream, bacon, and chicken broth and add egg, but the flavor was still spot on!

The best part is how easy this recipe is! The only cooking involved is browning the sausage, softening the potatoes, and wilting the kale. This all happens in the same pot and time depends on how you chop your potatoes (more on this in the step-by-step). After that you just combine everything in the pie crust and throw it in the oven! To make this dish even faster, I love to buy pre-made deep dish pie crust. However, if you want to have a fun day of baking, you could totally make your own!

Another thing to note is that you could definitely swap fresh kale for fresh spinach here! I've tried it both ways and each works beautifully!

This quiche is perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so enough chit-chat from me! Let's get into the recipe!

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First things first, preheat your oven and blind bake your pie crust according to the instructions on the packaging. Once the pie crust is done, lower the temperature to 375 F. I recommend purchasing a deep dish crust. Next, chop up the veggies. I used 3 stalks of kale (I picked the ones that were the fullest out of the bunch) and roughly chopped it. Then I finely diced 1/2 of a medium onion. Lastly I quartered some petite gold potatoes. When I finished I had roughly 2 cups of potatoes.

Next, over medium heat, brown 1/2 pound of breakfast sausage. I used mild, but hot would also work great! When it is mostly browned, add in the onions and cook until slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes.

Once the onions have softened, add in the quartered potatoes and 1/4 cup of water. Using a spatula, scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Stir the mixture until combined and then cover and cook until the potatoes are fork tender (they don't have to be completely cooked through, as they'll finish in the oven, but you want a fork to be able to go in). With the potatoes quartered, it took approximately 15-20 minutes for the potatoes to soften. If you diced them or even thinly sliced them, this would likely cut the cooking process down by half. If you notice the mixture drying out, add another 1/4 cup of water, scrape up the browned bits, and cover once more.

Once the potatoes are soft, add in the kale and cover with a lid. It looks like a lot, but it'll cook down!

After about 3-4 minutes, the kale should be a bright green and wilted a good bit. Turn the heat off and set aside.

Now for the egg mixture! Whisk together 5 eggs, 1/3 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Here you have two options! You can add your kale, sausage, and potato mixture to the eggs and then pour it all into the pie crust (which is what I did). It would also work just as well to put the meat mixture into the pie crust and then pour the egg mixture on top.

Here's what it looks like before going into the oven. I topped it with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese. I then cooked it for about 28 minutes. Time can vary from 25-30 minutes. Check it after 25 minutes. When it's done it'll be slightly puffed in the center and won't significantly jiggle.

Here it is fresh out of the oven!

I won't lie to you, I definitely ate more than one slice. This quiche is comfort food hands down.

I topped it with a bit of grated parmesan and parsley and it was de-lish!

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RECIPE NOTES:

1. Gluten Free Option 1: Replace the pie crust with sliced potatoes (either russet or sweet potato). Thinly slice the potatoes and layer them along the bottom of a lightly greased deep-dish pie pan. Bake at 450 F for approximately 20 minutes.

2. Gluten Free Option 2: Omit the pie crust entirely and transform the quiche into a frittata. All cooking processes remain the same. Lightly grease a deep dish pie pan and pour filling inside. Note: the frittata will cook faster, so check on it sooner at about 15 minutes.

3. Meat Options: This recipe would also work with turkey sausage, bacon, Italian sausage, chicken, or no meat at all.

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I hope you enjoy this recipe!

xo, Toni