Shut Up and Quiche Me
Although I am attempting to practice better living through denial, I cannot ignore the fact that summer is swiftly coming to a close.
As a result, I am trying to squeeze every bit of summery goodness out of each day, whether it be giving myself straw hair after four hours in a swimming pool, sweating it out during sticky evening runs or taking prime advantage of all the delicious foods summer has to offer.
When the thought of September is just too terrible I let Cheesus take the wheel and turn myself over to comfort food. Typically cheese-related comfort food because obviously.
One of my favorite summer foods is quiche. Nothing screams summer to me like rich, pillowy eggs studded with fresh spinach and dense nuggets of smoky applewood bacon (in a homemade crust, natch). Summer is the perfect time to make a quiche because unlike many baked goods, a quiche is unaffected by humidity. There's also something fabulously luxiuriant about eating a fat slice of quiche for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Serve it with fruit salad in the AM, toast points and salad in the afternoon and a glass of crisp white and grilled greens for din.
A quiche does require a little work but what else do you have to do? It's summer. Enjoy it.
This recipe is a semi-lightened version of traditional quiche. While the pie crust is all butter, it doesn't call for heavy cream and the eggs are split with liquid egg substitute (trust me, you can't tell). And while I know that three slices of bacon doesn't seem like a lot, it is -- provided you use good quality, thick-cut bacon. This recipe is packed with tons of fresh baby spinach, full of vitamins and minerals and that basically makes it healthy. Just like wine is healthy because grapes are fruit, duh.
My dumb cat helping me cook
Ingredients:
For the flaky pastry crust:
9 tbs. butter, cubed and very cold 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt 6 tbs. ice water
For the filling:
3 slices applewood smoked bacon, roughly chopped
3 c. baby spinach, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tbs. EVOO
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1 c. sharp white cheddar, grated
1 c. 2% or whole milk
3 large eggs
Scant 3/4 c. liquid egg substitute
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. To make the pie crust, combine flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Sprinkle the cubed butter over the flour and using a pastry cutter or your fingers, incorporate the butter into the flour, moistening with one tablespoon of ice water at a time, until the butter becomes pea-size. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and pulse the butter until the desired texture is reached. You do not need to use all the ice water, just as much as needed to bring the dough together.
2. When all the butter is uniformly integrated and the dough has a smooth texture, gather it into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate one hour.
3. Meanwhile, prepare a 9-inch quiche plate by greasing with 1 tbs. softened butter.
4. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until very crispy. Set aside to drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 tbs. of bacon fat in skillet.
5. Add the EVOO to the bacon fat and sautee the onion and garlic over medium-low heat, until just translucent. Add the spinach and cook one to two minutes, or until just wilted.
6. Whisk eggs, egg substitute and milk together in a large bowl. Season with black pepper to taste. Add spinach mixture
7. At this point, the pie crust should have chilled long enough. Remove from fridge and place the ball of dough in between two large sheets of plastic wrap. Roll with a rolling pin or a wine bottle to 1/4" thickness and about 11" diameter, moving from the center of the circle out. Do not remove plastic wrap while rolling.
Gently pick up the dough and remove one side of plastic wrap while centering the dough in the prepared quiche pan. Press the dough firmly against all surfaces and crimp around the top edges with your fingers. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Prick all over with a fork
8. Layer the cheese and bacon in the bottom of the pie pan. Pour egg mixture over the top and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake at 375F for about 45 minutes or until the egg is totally set.
