I first had this while down at Andrea and Hugh's when Surinda and Michael Roberson brought this over. I loved it, and more importantly, Andrea loved it, so I asked for the recipe and made it a few times. It's a great base recipe in and of itself! I've included a link to the original recipe from the Once Upon a Chef blog, and Michael's alterations in the notes section.

Once Upon a Chef

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
• ½ cup chopped shallots, from about 2 shallots
• 10 oz broccoli florets, cut into 1-inch pieces or smaller
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 6 large eggs (see notes)
• 1¾ cups heavy cream (see notes)
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1½ cups (about 5 oz) shredded Gruyère

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F degrees and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inch deep dish pie plate with butter.
2. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Do not brown. Add the broccoli, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and ⅓ cup water. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is al dente and the water has evaporated, 3-4 minutes more. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream, nutmeg, remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, and cayenne pepper.
4. Spread the broccoli and shallots evenly over the bottom of the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle the Gruyère over top. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese.
5. Bake for about an hour, or until the custard is set and the top is golden brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then slice into wedges and serve.

1. Make Ahead: This quiche can be made a day ahead of time and refrigerated. To warm up individual slices, simply reheat in the microwave for about a minute. To reheat the entire quiche, cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 300°F oven until hot in the center, about 30 minutes.
2. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooled quiche may also be wrapped tightly in foil and frozen for up to 3 months. Remove the quiche from the freezer about 24 hours prior to eating and reheat it, covered with foil, in a 300°F oven until hot in the center.
3. Michael's Broccoli and Ham Quiche Tweaks and Notes: The ham in the quiche is from Honey Baked Ham. Surrinda buys a ham bone and cuts it into small pieces. (Uses the bone to make soup.) KEY - the HBH is salty so cut down the salt in the recipe. Don’t use too much ham for the same reason. We use a frozen pie shell (from Whole Foods.) Be sure to cook the pie shelf first per directions or the shell won’t cook.
4. Custard Notes: If using a crust, only need 4 eggs and 1 cup of cream. Speaking of cream, 2% milk should be able to be substituted.