spinach, bacon and deliciousness quiche

one word. yum. my mom bought Brett and I both cookbooks for christmas.. and this was one of our very first attempts from his book. The recipe is from the book BAKE! by Nick Maligieri. It’s a pretty awesome book, as it has tips and techniques for all the most common (and coincidentally, the most delicious) baked goods. I’m sure there will be more to come from this book… danishes.. tarts…cakes..mmm

I love pies and tarts and quiches but I usually utterly fail at rolling out the crust. Case in point, I made a pecan pie for Thanksgiving, and before I could put the filling in the partially-baked crust, I managed to dump the entire crust out of the pan and onto the kitchen counter. How? Who knows? Why? Because I’m me. and that’s the kind of thing I do. Luckily, I was alone in the house so no one had to endure my lame whimpering as I tried hopelessly to piece the crust back together.

What did I gain from this experience you may ask? I learned that it doesn’t matter what your food looks like, as long as it tastes delicious. I accepted that the presentation of my food will never be magazine-worthy. But as long as it’s made with sugar and butter and eggs… who cares what it looks like?

So as far as quiche goes, don’t fear the crust. And if you do fear the crust, cheat. head over to Trader Joe’s if you’re lucky enough to have one near you (I’m not) and buy their pre-made pie crust. BOOM. done. But if you want the gloat-factor, here’s the crust recipe, as featured in BAKE!

FLAKY PASTRY DOUGH (direct from BAKE!)

• 2 cups flour, spooned into a measuring cup (don’t scoop it)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) very cold butter, cut into 12 pieces
• 2 large eggs

combine flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl (or in your food processor if you have one) and stir (or pulse) to combine. Add in the butter (if mixing by hand, cut each piece into several smaller pieces so it’s easier to combine) and pulse several times. If mixing by hand, use your fingers and hands to pinch the butter into smaller pieces, until the largest ones are about 1/4 inch. Try to do this quickly so the mixture doesn’t get too hot.

Add the eggs and break them up with a fork. Mix from the bottom up (or pulse 4-5 times on your food processor) until the dough almost comes together. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and, without kneading, form it into a ball. Divide the ball in two, flatten each into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm. This dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days if needed.

Once the dough is hard, take it out and place it onto a floured surface. The best way to roll this is to start not by rolling, but by pressing. So press down on the dough several times across it’s face, turn the dough 30 degrees, and repeat. repeat this pressing and turning until your disk is about 1/4 inch thick. Then you can start rolling.

Roll from 6:00 to 12:00 (pretend your dough is a clock, yeah?) and then back again, without rolling over the edges either way. Then turn what was 12:00 to 2:00 (or 10:00 whichever you prefer..) and repeat. By rolling then turning, you get a rounder piece  of dough at the end. Keep up the rolling and turning until you have about a 13″ round. Then fold the piece, gently lift it up and place it into your pie tin. Press it gently against the sides and bottom, and cut off any excess.

The only bummer about this dough is that now you have to let it refrigerate again for at least 3 hours so it doesn’t shrink. So cover it in plastic wrap and stick it back in the icebox until dinnertime.

so… it’s been 3 hours and you’re ready for some food! Okay. Here’s the delicousness filling:

SPINACH and BACON QUICHE (adapted from BAKE!)

• 1 bag baby spinach
• 4-5 slices bacon, diced
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (about 1/2 a medium onion)
• 1 1/2 cups light cream or half and half
• 1 cup grated gruyere, gouda, or sharp cheddar (i used gruyere…yum!)
• 3 large eggs
• pinch nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375, with a rack on the lowest level in the oven.

Rinse and drain the spinach. Place drained spinach in a saucepot over low-ish heat. Put the lid on and let the spinach steam until fully cooked (about 5 minutes) stirring occasionally. Once cooked, place it in the same colander to drain and cool. Once cool, gently squeeze the water out with your hands and roughly chop.

In a skillet, cook the bacon until nicely colored. Stir frequently so the pieces don’t stick together. Remove the bacon using a slotted spoon, and place it on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Pour out all but 1tbsp of the delicious bacon grease.

In the remaining grease, cook the onions over medium heat until tender and starting to golden-up, about 10 minutes. Add back in the bacon and spinach, and stir to combine. Dump all of this into a large bowl and add the cream and cheese and stir to combine. Add in the nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. (meaning, taste it at this point so you know how much salt you’re putting in. don’t over-salt it, as the bacon will be salty in there). Beat the eggs in, one at a time, and then pour the mixture into the pie dish. Smooth out the top so it’s pretty.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is set. Let it cool significantly before digging in. Then, dig in!

Ours was even better the next day, so just wrap up leftovers in plastic and stick them in the fridge. Heat them up over the next few days in the oven or toaster oven and enjoy!