Broccoli Rabe Quiche

I never read Bruce Feirstein’s book Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche, but I love his title. I also know that most any man who likes broccoli rabe will enjoy this particular quiche. Broccoli rabe and I go back a long way. In the past, I have also used it to make hero sandwiches, homemade calzones, or just tossed over pasta. It is bitter and considered a wild broccoli, also called rapini.


My aunt Pauline would often tell me a story about my grandfather’s experience with broccoli rabe when he was a young husband and father. Before my grandfather owned his own fruit and vegetable market, he worked in the giant fruit and vegetable markets of New York City. Broccoli rabe, which was not yet popular here in the United States in the early nineteen hundreds, was shipped into the markets for the first time. The boss in charge had no idea what this new vegetable was. He was ready to discard it, but my grandfather, a great cook, and very appreciative of finer ingredients, advised his boss of the values of broccoli rabe. Suffice it to say, it remained.


1 cup broccoli rabe, blanched and chopped

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 nine-inch pastry pie shell

4 extra large eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup light cream

1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese

Kosher salt and white pepper, to taste



Preheat oven to 350°F. Layer broccoli rabe and mozzarella cheese in the pie shell. In medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix until well blended. Carefully pour over broccoli rabe and mozzarella. Bake in center of oven for one hour until golden. Allow to settle for ten minutes before serving.