Looking for a healthy, inexpensive dinner? Make a hearty spinach Gruyère quiche! Whether you need a brunch dish to feed 8 or a simple dinner, this delicious dish works beautifully.
In our area, we tend to shop at Aldi or Lidl stores, both of which offer a wide selection of cheeses at very affordable prices. Gruyère is a hard pale yellow cheese that originated in Switzerland. It can be expensive in some parts of the country, so if you’re unable to locate some or it’s not within your budget you can substitute Beaufort or Comte cheese. Both offer the light swiss cheese flavor but aren’t aged as nicely.
You’ll Need: 1 pie crust (homemade or store-bought, whatever!)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
4 large eggs
1-1/4 cups milk, half & half or heavy cream
Pinch ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup grated Gruyère Cheese
5 oz fresh spinach or 1 (10oz) pkg of frozen spinach thawed and drained thoroughly
(Optional 1/4 c. Finely diced crispy bacon bits)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the pie crust in a pie plate, and carefully prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork. Bake at 400F until fully cooked and lightly golden, about 12 minutes.
While the pie crust is cooking, melt the butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and saute until soft and translucent, but do not brown the onions or butter. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper until fully incorporated.
Place cooked pie shell on a cookie sheet. Spread half of the fresh spinach over bottom of cooked crust, sprinkle with the scallions/butter mixture, spreading it as evenly as possible over the fresh spinach, then sprinkle grated Gruyere over top. Scatter the remaining spinach evenly over cheese (breaking up clumps as best you can), then pour egg mixture over top of all of it.
At this point, if you wish to add bacon bits to the top, this is the time!
Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes until the quiche is set and top is lightly golden. Serve immediately.
Also, if you’re worried about the spinach getting dried out during baking you can lightly saute it until it wilts (just after sauteing the onions). We’ve done it both ways and no matter how you make this amazing quiche, it’s absolutely divine on the tastebuds!
[liss][liss]
