Paleo-Friendly Brunch Quiche

Yes, it's true. It is possible to make crust for quiche that is gluten-free, and very low carb. My whole family loves this damn crust so much! I made it again this morning, and everyone went off about how good it was. What's nice, is that it's a cinch to whip up. SO much easier than conventional pie crust. That's an art.

You don't have to be really that great at anything to make this crust. You really could train a monkey, lemur, or well, any creature with opposable thumbs, to make it.

I'll get to the filling, as well, so you aren't baking just a crust, with no goodness. Don't worry!

Mise en place:

Flat surface, like a large cutting board.
Rolling Pin (I use a marble one, but a wooden one would suffice.)
2 decent-sized strips of parchment, or foil.
2 Medium-sized mixing bowls
1 small bowl for lemon zest
Whisk
Fork
9-inch pie plate. (I used a tin one. A glass one heats differently, and may scorch the almond meal, just... be aware.)
Small amount of olive oil, for pan lubification.

knife
Citrus reamer
Microplane for zesting
Strainer (not to be confused with colander, unless you enjoy your lemon seeds.)
Silicone, or rubber spatula

Ingredients:

1 egg
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp Greek Kalamata olive oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp rosemary
Zest from 1/2 a lemon
1 bag Trader Joe's Just Almond Meal (I say one bag, because I never measure this. I just add until the consistency is correct, which may vary, depending on the size of your egg and your lemon. Don't you hate it when people give exact measurements for things calling for one of something that is never uniform? I know I do.)

For Filling:

6 eggs
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp granulated garlic
1/3 pound of your favourite sausage
Zest from 1/2 a lemon


Method:

Start by zesting your lemon completely into a small bowl. Be sure to only zest to the light yellow portion, to avoid getting any bitter, pithy portions in your mix.

Slice your lemon in half, and ream the juice, over a strainer into the first mixing bowl. Once all the juice has been collected, add the oil, then the egg. Whisk the hell out of the first three ingredients.

Next, add salt, and garlic.

Add baking soda.

Add 1/2 of the zest, and the rosemary.

Once that is incorporated, you are done with your whisk. Switch to a fork at this point, and begin slowly adding the almond meal, until it starts to feel like a solid piece of dough. Scrape the sides of the bowl with your rubber spatula until you no longer have to.

Gather up the dough in your hands. What you want is dough that sticks to itself, but not to you. At all. If it does, it will stick to the parchment, or foil. You will end up with a mess, and you will have to start that part over. So listen up!

Once you have the right consistency, and the dough is formed, and no longer sticky, roll into into a good ball, and set that down on your parchment, or foil.

Set another piece of parchment or foil on top of that, and roll it out to about 1/2 an inch in thickness; doing your best to keep the round shape, since it's going into a round pie plate.

Oil your pie plate! Whee!

If you got the consistency correct, you may need to smooth out any cracks in the sides of the dough with your fingers, but once you have done that, invert the crust onto the pie plate, then remove the paper, or foil, from the top of it.

At this point, you may need to do some slight finger shaping to get it to fit the pan. That's fine. Just do it evenly, and remember it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect.

Now that the crust is in place, move on to the filling. Super easy!

Break 6 eggs into your other mixing bowl
Add lemon Zest, garlic, and salt
Whisk like hell.

Pour mixture into crust, then take your 1/3 pound of sausage, and break it into small pieces, adding it evenly throughout the mixture. Bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes, checking once at 20 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

Enjoy!

-H