By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- About 1½ hours (including prebaking the tart shell and baking the quiche)
- Rating
- 5(1,082)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The real spring vegetable here is the spinach, lush and beautiful at this time of year. You can always get red peppers in a supermarket, and when you cook them for a while, as you do here, even the dullest will taste sweet. I make the pepper mixture first, then wilt the spinach in the same pan and line the tart shell with the savory mix. If you can, make the pepper and spinach filling a day ahead. It dries out a little if it sits overnight in the refrigerator and is less likely to dilute the custard.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 generous servings
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1medium-size onion (yellow or spring onion), chopped
- 2large garlic cloves, or 1 small bulb green garlic, peeled and minced
- Salt to taste
- 2large red bell peppers (about ¾ pound), seeded and cut in thin 1-inch strips
- 1teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1generous bunch spinach, stemmed, washed in 2 changes of water, and coarsely chopped
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2egg yolks
- 2whole eggs
- 1(9-inch) whole wheat pâte brisée pie crust, fully baked and cooled
- Freshly ground pepper
- ⅔cup milk
- 2ounces Gruyère, grated (½ cup)
- 1ounce Parmesan, grated (¼ cup)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
371 calories; 23 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 558 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step
2
Heat oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt, the garlic, peppers and thyme. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, then turn the heat to medium low and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, until peppers are very tender and sweet.
Step
3
Turn up heat to medium-high and, a handful at a time, add spinach and stir until each handful wilts. If there is liquid remaining in the pan turn up the heat and stir while you let it cook off. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. If you are making filling a day ahead, refrigerate uncovered.
Step
4
Beat together egg yolks and eggs in a medium bowl. Set tart pan on a baking sheet for easy handling. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush bottom of the crust with some of the beaten egg and place in oven for 5 minutes.
Step
5
Add salt (I use ½ teaspoon), pepper, and milk to the remaining eggs and whisk together.
Step
6
Spread pepper and spinach mixture in an even layer in the crust. Stir together cheeses and sprinkle in an even layer on top. Very slowly pour in the egg custard over the filling. If your tart pan has low edges, you may not need all of it to fill the shell, and you want to avoid the custard spilling over. Place quiche, on baking sheet, in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until set and just beginning to color on the top. Remove from oven and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm or room temperature.
Tip
- Advance preparation: The filling will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Keep uncovered so that liquid evaporates (otherwise the liquid will dilute the custard). The quiche will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,082
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Cooking Notes
Peter
Very good. I found the number of eggs insufficient. It looked like a cheese quiche. It turned out better with an extra egg + extra egg yolk.
The whole wheat crust works well.
Elizabeth
This was my first quiche attempt - delicious!! I used bagged baby spinach and didn't bother with any of the prep; just used the entire bag, straight out of the bag. I also added some diced salami, used a shredded swiss/gruyere blend, and used more parmesan than called for. I baked for exactly 30 minutes and it was perfect - it made for a great meal, and I left it on the counter and we picked at it all day! I bet adding an orange or yellow bell pepper and/or mushrooms would also be good!
Anne
I did the advance preparation. Bought a ready made pie crust and dinner was a snap to prepare. My husband, not a quiche fan, was looking for leftovers the following day. It was great for breakfast too. I had cheddar cheese on hand so used that. Used whole milk and used a deep dish pie plate. Delicious. Planning on making it again soon with the gruyere and adding some chopped up ham to the filling.
Jane
Absolutely do NOT do the 5 minutes in the oven before adding the eggs. I doubled the recipe for two quiches and both crusts were ruined - they melted and sank to the bottom of the pan in this time and I had to start over. Both crusts were chilled before and I used the NYTimes All Butter Pie Crust recipe. Great without pre-baking.
Ann Marie
Great quiche! The only change I made was adding 1 extra egg and a splash more milk. Cooked beautifully and was ready to come out of the oven after 30 minutes. I made the basic short crust pastry recipe by David Tanis and blind baked first. I wouldn't change anything about this recipe and will definitely make again.
Carolyn
I think I had too much filling ratio to egg-cheese mixture. 40 minutes wasn't enough to really congeal the eggs.
Lorax
This is a good, versatile quiche recipe. I usually make a few tweaks, using whatever cheese and veggies I have on hand, but one change I make consistently every time is to use more egg. As written, the recipe doesn't make enough custard. I usually just go with a total of 4 whole eggs and a smidge more milk. Delicious!
Park Slope
Very easy and tasty! Relying on the comments, I used one red pepper, a large onion and quite a lot of spinach plus five whole eggs and a third cup cream in addition to the two/thirds cup milk, and those proportions worked well.
Jennifer
I found that the filling was plentiful enough for two quiches, so I only used half, and kept the egg/cheese/milk amounts the recipe called for. Even using only half the filling, the balance of custard to veggies seems a bit low.
Judy
I used 2 -9" pie shells. Didn't pre-bake. Increased eggs to 7 plus more milk and made 2 delicious quiche. Served with grilled asparagus.
VS
Tasty, but at 35 minutes the center was still fully liquid.
Sondra
Made this for book club last week using 5 eggs and 1 red pepper as already noted. Husband felt left out so it's baking for family dinner tonight with crusty rolls. Easy & Delicious on a grey misty day.
kerri
Use half an onion, frozen spinach (make sure to get all the water out, and an extra egg. No red pepper.
Annie
I didn’t read the recipe ahead of time and started the the wheat crust dough 3 hours before brunch guests arrived. I almost threw it out because it was impossible to roll without breaking into chunks, even after nearly an hour of refrigeration. Pressed pieces into tart pan coated with cooking spray, froze dough/pan for 20 minutes and par baked for 15 at 325 before filling. It turned out perfect! Like others mentioned, used 2/3 cup milk, 1/3 cream to great results.
susan j
Do not make the pepper and spinach filling ahead of time! I did as directed and made it a day ahead. I left it uncovered in the fridge as directed and yet this turned out a wet watery unset slop. I think if I’d heated the filling mixture back up in a frying pan maybe this wouldn’t have happened?
Moma
i used a premade crust and partially cooked it, added pre-softened onion, 1 sweet pepper, like Park Slope, added pre-cooked bacon (2 slices, chopped and sautéed). 5 eggs half cup milk, half cup half and half, Mexican blend fine grated cheese, plus parmesan.
Lisa
Made as described in recipe. Nice flavor. Maybe over indexed on spinach used ~4-6 oz. Remember to chop first. Good idea to prep filling in advance. Used a deep dish pie shell. Prebaked
Sarah G.
This was a pretty tasty quiche. I thought that the veggie to egg ratio was a bit off- next time I'd add a little bit less veg. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to this being my lunch for the week!
magnamosa
subbed swiss chard from the garden for the spinach. used a frozen pie crust which i parbaked for 12 minutes at 425 before filling. used half and half instead of milk to make it a bit richer. delish!
Scott
I used the TJ's 3-pepper frozen blend and their frozen gluten-free pie crust and it was amazing. I blind-baked the crust for about 10 minutes first.
Kathleen
This was excellent! Easy to make and tasted so good :)
jenny
Pre bake the crust with parchment/rice in it at 350 degrees for 10mins.
SK
Made this with a bunch of Daciana peppers and long red peppers from the CSA. Organic white pie crust from WF (which is delicious!). Doubled the recipe for 2 pies and used 8 whole eggs. Baked for about 50 minutes until the top brown a bit. The texture was slightly too soft but the quiche was delicious!
Laurie
For 11 inch spring for double crust and triple filling
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