Salmon quiche was one of my dad’s favorite recipes. In honor of his recent birthday, I decided to make several of his recipes. Thanks, Dad, for all those tasty dishes you prepared for us.

This quiche works well with smoked, canned or fresh cooked salmon. For this recipe, my favorite is smoked salmon from the Honey Smoked Fish Company, available at most grocery stores. I look for the biggest middle section I can find, avoiding the tapered tail sections.

My dad’s original recipe works best with wheat flour. Even though this blog features gluten-free recipes, I’m including his tasty wheat crust for those lucky people who don’t need to avoid gluten — and to stay true to my dad’s recipe.

To make the salmon quiche gluten-free, I used a frozen pie crust. After I baked the crust, I sprinkled sliced almonds on the crust before adding the filling. (Full disclosure: I tried making the crust with gluten-free flour, but it tasted too flour-y to me. Maybe my taste buds have forgotten how to appreciate wheat flour in the 19+ years since I gave it up. I fondly remember that last chocolate chip cookie.)

The quiche freezes well for make-ahead breakfasts. Reheat frozen slices for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, or refrigerated slices for 90 seconds.

Serves: 6 to 8

Active time:  50 minutes                 Total time:  50 minutes

Specialized One-Butt Kitchen Utensils

• If you have an Immersion Hand Blender or Hand-Held Electric Mixer, use it. You can also use a fork if you have patience and a strong arm.
• If you are cooking in an RV oven, you’ll need an Oven Thermometer and a Pizza Stone. The thermometer will indicate when the oven is preheated to the specified temperature. A pizza stone on the rack helps distribute the heat of the oven.  Without it, food is likely to burn above the heating element and be undercooked on the sides.

Ingredients

Wheat Crust:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ⅔ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp paprika
• ⅓ cup avocado or canola oil

Or Gluten-Free Crust:

• 1 gluten-free frozen pie crust, baked according to package directions
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ tsp paprika

Filling:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup light sour cream
• ¼ cup light mayonnaise (I used Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil. It has half the fat of regular mayonnaise.)
• 2 tbsp onion, minced
• ¼ tsp dill weed
• 3 drops Tabasco
• 16-oz smoked salmon or 14.75-oz canned salmon
• ½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Wheat Crust:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pie pan with no-stick cooking spray. Combine the flour, cheese, sliced almonds, salt and paprika, then stir in oil.  Press the mixture around bottom and sides of 9-inch pie pan.  Bake crust at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Lower temperature to 325 degrees to bake the filling.

Or

Gluten-Free Crust:

Bake frozen gluten-free pie crust according to package directions, or at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven.  Lower temperature to 325 degrees for filling.

Filling:

Flake salmon to remove any bones and skin.  Set aside.

Beat the eggs with a fork. Add the sour cream, mayo, onion, dill weed and Tabasco. Use an immersion blender (or a fork to get a good arm work out), then add salmon and cheese.  Pour into the baked crust.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until firm in the center. If the quiche is firm in the center but still pale, turn the temperature up to 400 degrees (or 375 if you have a convection oven).  Cook for a few minutes more until the quiche is lightly browned.