Gluten free ham and arugula quiche

Thanksgiving is coming and it’s time to start looking for yummy and inviting recipes to enjoy with all the family. In the last years I noticed that I really put a huge effort in preparing the Thanksgiving meal and the following days I kind of feel without ideas with tons of leftovers to use. That’s why this year I will concentrate on creative ideas to use Thanksgiving leftovers and fully enjoy them!

Today’s recipe will use any gorgeous ham leftovers to be mixed with eggs and arugula to create a gluten free fall quiche. Even if you do not follow a gluten free diet, I deeply suggest the almond flour crust with the rosemary touch. It came out really really good!!

If you do not celebrate Thanksgiving or you do not have any ham leftovers, no worries! You can use any cooked ham sliced and cut in cubes, or, if you are vegetarian or you do not eat ham, switch the ham with some feta cheese: you will still have that lovely salty kick that makes the recipe really delicious!

This is all you will need of 8 mini quiches or a standard size one:

And that’s how to proceed:

– as we are preparing a gluten free dough, a nice trick is to use cold ingredients. It will help the mix to stick together better. So, let’s measure the almond four, and the butter, cut the butter in small cubes and store everything in the refrigerator for one hour or more.

– take the cold flour and butter from the fridge and place them in a food processor. Add the chopped rosemary and a pinch of salt. Let the food processor work for 1 minute and add the egg white. Keep mixing for another minute and you will obtain a nice doughy dough. Not too sticky but soft. Don’t worry if it will not look compact but it will break easily in pieces, it’s fine. The egg white will do the magic once baked!!

– remove the dough from the food processor and wrap it on some parchment paper. Let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

– Chop the red onion in thin slices and sauté them in a pan with few tablespoons of extra virgin oil of oil and a pinch of salt. It will take 8/10 minutes. Once cooked, let them cool down.

– In a big bowl mix together the eggs, the milk and the ricotta. Adjust with a pinch of salt and stir everything with a wooden spoon trying to obtain a smooth mix.

– Add the ham chopped in small cubes, the grated parmesan cheese, the onions and the arugula.

– mix everything and set it apart.

– remove the almond dough from the fridge and cut it in 8 pieces. I’m using 8 tart mini pans, that’s why. If you are using a big quiche/tart pan leave the dough like that in one piece. Start filling the tart pan with the dough.

– cover the bottom of the quiche with a small piece of parchment paper. Not to let the paper move place some seeds on top. I happened to have some sunflower seeds in the pantry, any other kind of dry seeds will be fine!

– bake the crust in the oven at 350F. for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove the seeds and the paper and fill the quiche with the ham and arugula filling

– bake the quiche in the oven at 400F for 35 minutes and enjoy!!!