Mary Jo’s Spinach Quiche
You might think that a spinach quiche sounds dull, but try this delicious recipe that our friend Mary Jo McMillin shared with us.
SERVES
6
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
60
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
30
MINUTES
Ingredients
For the pastry (makes scant 900g pastry) – you will have more than required, freeze the excess for another time
450g plain white flour
l tsp salt
250g cold butter or 225g
butter plus 25g lard
150ml ice water
For the onion filling
1 tbsp butter (or a mixture of butter and extra virgin olive oil)
salt
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
150-200g onion, finely diced
For the quiche filling
110g cream cheese, room temperature
110ml whole milk
110ml cream
3 large eggs
Scant ½ tsp salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Generous grating fresh nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne (optional)
For the spinach filling
450g frozen chopped leaf spinach, thawed or fresh spinach, blanched, drained and chopped
½ tsp salt
freshly ground white pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
generous sprinkling of hopped fresh dill onion and garlic mixture
quiche filling
175g grated cheese
1 x 23cm deep quiche/tart
tin with a removable base
Method
To make pastry in a food processor.
Put the flour and salt into a bowl.
Add the cold butter and lard and cut in 1cm cubes or slices. Pulse 3 times to break up the butter into flakes.
With the processor running, pour in the ice water in a slow stream through the feed tube. Stop the processor as soon as the pastry rolls into a ball.
Remove the ball of dough from the bowl; shape into a 15cm long. Strip and cover and refrigerate.
Next, line the tin.
Shape 300g chilled pastry into a 10cm disk. Dust with flour and roll on a smooth, clean surface, giving the dough a quarter turn with each rolling to maintain a circle. Roll to a generous 33cm circle; brush off any excess flour.
Fold in quarters; unfold onto the inside of the tin. Press the pastry firmly into the bottom edge of the tin.
Trim the dough to an even 1cm overhang. Tuck the overhang inside the pastry edge, pressing firmly. Crimp or flute the top edge. Chill the pastry shell for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Chilling relaxes the gluten in the flour and prevents shrinkage and cracking. In haste, the quiche shell may be chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes.
To make the onion and garlic mix, melt the butter or a mixture of butter and olive oil in a deep sauté pan.
Add the diced onion; place the chopped garlic on top. Cover with parchment paper and cook over a low heat until the onion is soft and not browned. Season with salt and mix gently.
Cut the cream cheese into 2.5cm chunks and place into a processor bowl or blender. Add the milk and process.
Scrape down the sides and mix to a smooth, dense cream.
Add the eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne, and cream or remaining half-and-half to the processor or blender. Whizz to combine. Use straightaway or refrigerate in a plastic container.
Place the spinach in a strainer or colander and squeeze out the excess water.
Season the spinach with salt, pepper, nutmeg and dill. Mix the seasoned spinach with the onion and garlic mixture.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
Line the chilled pastry with parchment paper.
Carefully press the parchment paper onto the lower edge of the pastry shell. Pour 1cm of baking beans into the paper and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
The pastry edges should begin to brown, and crust under the parchment and should have lost its “raw” look. Remove the parchment and beans.
Immediately, sprinkle in all but 1 ½ tablespoons of the grated cheese. (The hot tin and hot pastry encourage faster cooking and lessen the chance of cracking the pastry shell).
Add 225ml of the quiche filling to the spinach filling to loosen it out and ladle into the pastry shell.
Add the remaining of the grated cheese.
Carefully ladle over the quiche filling, taking care not to reach the top of the shell. (If you cannot get all the filling in, pour the remaining bit in a small cup or Pyrex jug.
Place the quiche in the hot oven. Carefully reach in and empty the filling into the quiche, again do not allow filling to spill over the edge.)
Bake the filled quiche in the preheated oven for 25-40 minutes or until puffed and golden.
Cool briefly on a wire rack before serving.
Remove from the tin and eat at room temperature.
