I know, quiche can be kind of a pain in the bucket to prepare. But boy oh boy, the effort is well worth the pleasure of biting into a pastry crust filled with a savory egg custard blended with cheese, tasty bits of meat or seafood, and veggies. In my book, quiche is a treat.
So, the other evening I decided we had been good and deserved something special for dinner. And what came to mind was quiche.
Now years ago, before I became so lazy, I used to make a regular pie crust that involved getting out my stand mixer whenever I wanted to build a quiche. Too much effort anymore. Plus, I developed a true liking for this no-roll pie crust. It’s definitely not as flakey and perfect as my regular pie crust and I wouldn’t even consider using it with regular pies. (Find my favorite recipe under “Pie Crust” on this site.) But, because this crust recipe contains less fat, it comes out kind of crisp. I actually find the crispness of this pastry to be a perfect foil for the soft and fluffy filling. So, when I make a quiche now, I use the recipe below. And that practically cuts my work in half. But more about this quiche.
I had bacon on hand. As well as some spinach that needed to be used, an abundance of Swiss cheese, and a hankering for caramelized onions. Put them all together, turn yourself about, and you have the makings for a pretty darn good quiche. And isn’t that the lovely thing about quiche. Once you have the basic egg, milk, and cheese part down, you can use any number of other ingredients to flavor this dreamy dish. Besides bacon, you can use ham, crumbled and cooked breakfast, spicy, or Italian sausage, shrimp, scallops, crab, chicken – the list goes on and on. And any veggie or veggies that rocks your socks.
So, when life throws you a mixture of unrelated ingredients, you might consider them a blessing in disguise. They might lead you to fixing a unique and delicious quiche.
As always – stay safe, stay sane, and stay home. Christmas is going to be rough this year. There is no denying that fact. But be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. We will get through this. But it takes a team effort. Peace, joy, and love to all.
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
heaping ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
scant ¼ tsp. baking powder
7 T. vegetable or canola oil
5 T. cold water
Whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together. Whisk the oil and water together. Pour over the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until the dough is evenly moistened. Pat the dough across the bottom of a fairly deep pie pan, then up and over the rim. Crimp or mold the pie crust around the edge to make it pretty.
Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until you are ready to assemble the quiche. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Quiche Filling:
8 slices thick, meaty bacon, cut into small pieces
½ med. yellow onion, diced
3 c. finely chopped spinach, not packed
2 c. grated Swiss cheese, divided
4 lg. eggs
1⅓ c. whole milk
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
¼ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch ground nutmeg, plus a bit more for sprinkling
While the crust is baking, fry the bacon in a medium sized fry pan until crisp. Remove cooked bacon from pan with a slotted spoon. Remove all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.
Add onion and cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and starts to become a light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Add the spinach and sauté for a couple of minutes, just enough to wilt the spinach a bit. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whisk the eggs, milk, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Set aside.
Quiche Assembly:
Spread the bacon evenly over the partially baked crust. Then spread on the onion and spinach mixture. Sprinkle 1½ cups of the grated cheese evenly over the onion mixture. Pour the egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese and nutmeg.
Bake in the 375-degree oven until puffed and firm when touched in the center, 35-45 minutes. The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into 6-8 wedges.