Quiche Me!

 

 I'm basically lazy, so when I start thinking about fixing something to eat, I tend to go for quick, easy, and leftoverable.  Quiche fits the bill.  Today it's going to be a spinach quiche.

 

 I had a pie crust patiently waiting in the fridge.  I had a bag of fresh spinach.  I had ham.  And I had all sorts of cheeses.  I'm only minutes away from quiche.

I'll give you the basic ingredients then the step-by-steps and you can adjust and substitute as you like.  For example, I'm using ham, but you could fry up some bacon and use that.  I'm using Gruyère cheese, but you could substitute with other Swiss cheese or mozzarella or Monterey Jack.  Also, I have spinach on hand, but you could leave that out if you want.  There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to quiche.

Basic quiche ingredients:

1 pie crust 

1 cup cubed Gruyère cheese 

1 cup cubed ham

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 big handfuls spinach

5 eggs, room temperature

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup skim milk

freshly grated nutmeg

kosher salt and freshly grated pepper 

Rosie Note:  You could use whole milk if you happen to have it.  I never do.  But I always have cream and skim on hand, so I use that.  Also, I heat up the cream and milk before adding to the eggs.  You don't want it scalding hot (You don't want to scramble the eggs!), but you want it warm to medium hot.  This makes the quiche cook a bit faster rather than using cold liquid.

Have the oven at 350°.  Cook for about 50-60 minutes, rotating halfway through, covering top if it gets too brown.  You want just a slight jiggle when you shake it.  Then let it sit after you remove from the oven.

First, I sautéed a couple handfuls of chopped onion and cubed ham.

Then I stemmed a big bunch of spinach.

I added the spinach to the onions and ham

and let it cook down a bit.  Set it aside while you prepare the crust.

I like to use deep pie dishes.  And I use the refrigerated pie doughs that come rolled up, two to a box.  I don't like the frozen individual pie crusts.  They're not deep enough and they're always going to crack in the freezer.

Take the dough out and let it come to room temperature, then press it into your pie dish, crimping the edges.  Dot the bottom with cubes of cheese.  I'm using Gruyère.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have five eggs at room temperature.

Evenly spread out the onion/spinach/ham mixture.

I whupped up the eggs to a nice froth and added in a mixture of 1 cup heavy cream and 2/3 cup skim milk.

Then I seasoned the mixture with freshly grated nutmeg and kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (maybe 1/2 tsp each).

Pour in the egg/milk mixture.

Ready for baking.

350° for about 30 minutes, then rotate and cook another 20-25 minutes. 

 Remove from oven and let it rest about 20 minutes before slicing.

It's well worth the wait.

Enjoy!