This quiche is always a winner. It can be served hot for dinner or cold at lunch time with salad, I used this recipe a few times while I was cooking in the lodge in South Africa and it always seemed to go down well with the guests.
Having lots of spinach breaks up the egg giving it a lighter and more varied texture but make sure you drain your spinach well after wilting it otherwise the excess water makes the pastry soggy. Another thing to be aware of is not to add too much salt as the bacon does this for you! To prepare in advance you can make the pastry the day before and keep in the fridge covered with clingfilm or alternatively you can make the whole quiche cook it, leave it to cool, and it will freeze for up to 2 months. I tend to make this quiche in a china Flan dish as I like to make the filling quite deep, this also prevents any of the filling leaking through any holes that may be in the pastry.
To serve 8 You will need...
A round flan dish roughly 30cm diameter
For the Pastry
-225g of plain flour
-100g of butter
-1 egg yolk
-2-3 tbsps of water
For the Filling
-350g of bacon pieces chopped
-1 large onion chopped
-350g fresh spinach (I usually use baby spinach) or 450g of frozen leaf spinach thawed and drained
-5 eggs and 1 egg white (If using bought pastry just use 5 eggs)
-300ml double cream
-300ml milk
-175g Gruyere Cheese grated.
You will need to...
-Preheat the oven to 180C
-Rub the butter and flour together in a bowl until you have a breadcrumb texture. Add the egg yolk and water until a dough is formed. You can do this in the food processor.
-Wrap the pastry in clingfilm an put in the fridge to chill for at least half an hour.
-Roll out the pastry on a floured surface so it is slightly larger than the dish then flute the edges, then blind bake at 180C using baking paper and baking beans for the first 15 minutes then remove the baking beans and cook for a further 5-10 mins or until pastry is golden.
- Fry the bacon pieces over a high heat until browned, lower the heat and add the chopped onion until softened
- Wilt the spinach in a saucepan remove from the heat and make sure you drain properly.
-In a bowl whisk the eggs cream milk and seasoning.
-Scatter the bacon, onion and spinach over the pastry, sprinkle half the gruyere cheese and then pour the mixture over.
-Finally sprinkle the other half of the gruyere on top and place in the oven at 180C for 35-40 mins or until the filling is set and golden.
Enjoy! Z x
