Preparation time: 2 hours (see directions for time savers). Serves 6
Ingredients:
| 8 oz | Flour |
| 4 oz | Butter |
| 1/4 tsp. | Salt |
| Cold water | |
| 1 large | Onion |
| 1 -2 cloves | Garlic |
| 450 g | Fresh spinach |
| 50 g | Cheese (Parmesan is best) |
| 150 ml | Cream |
| 3 tbsp. | Ground almonds |
| 1 | Egg yolk |
| Fresh nutmeg, ground | |
| Salt and pepper, to taste | |
| 15 g | Pine nuts (optional) |
Method:
The pastry is the first thing that needs to be made. It's best if you make it a couple of hours before, wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the fridge to rest. Having said that, it will not hurt to use it immediately after making. The only difference will be more shrinkage. The instructions for making pastry can be found here.
The filling is pretty easy to make. Wash your spinach and if the leaves are very big roughly chop them. I used baby spinach and thus didn't have to do any chopping, just washing. Wash fresh spinach very carefully because it has the tendency to be extremely muddy. If you are in Sri Lanka you will have to remove the thick stems and use only the leaves (450 g without stems). Stems on European and American spinach are fine.
Put the spinach in a very large pan and heat over medium high heat with the lid closed until the spinach wilts. While the spinach is cooking dice the onion and mince the garlic. Remove the spinach from the pan and squeeze some of the liquid out. You don't need to make it dry, just get rid of some of the water. If the spinach is too hot to handle run some cold water over it.
If you are using frozen spinach the process is as follows: defrost the spinach, squeeze out excess water. This way you can reduce the preparation time of this dish by at least 15 minutes.
Set your oven to 180 C/190 C/ 375 F (fan/conventional). Remove your pastry from the fridge and roll it out to fit your dish. I used a 9 inch cake spring form because my 10 inch Quiche form had to be retired and I hadn't gotten round to buying a new one. Bake blind for 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime place the pan back on the cooker, dry it out (either with a paper towel or by heating it up) and put the oil in to heat. Once the oil is hot add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 1 - 2 minutes. Add the spinach and stir through. Remove from the stove.
Mix in the cream, half the cheese, ground almonds and egg yolk in that order. The most important part is to add the egg yolk at the very end. By the time you add the yolk the mixture should be cool enough to prevent the egg from getting cooked. If your egg yolk gets cooked then the quiche will not set. All is not lost if this happens to you. Just allow the mixture to cool a bit more and add another egg yolk. If you do not have almonds you can use a couple of substitutes. I can imagine that you could use ground cashew as an alternative but that can also be expensive. To minimise cost use 1.5 tbsp. of flour as a substitute. Mix it in carefully so as not to form lumps. You might consider mixing it into the cream and then putting it into the spinach. Again be careful when putting the flour into something hot least it gets cooked and turns into "paappa". Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
By now your pastry should be done. Take it out of the oven, remove the baking beans and pop it back in the oven for another 5 - 10 minutes (until the base is baked). If pressed for time don't hesitate to skip putting it back in the oven. The worst that will happen is the base will be a bit under cooked. Once the base is cooked pour in the filling, sprinkle on the remaining cheese and the pine nuts.
Reduce the heat of the oven to 160 C and put the pie in the oven for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until the pie is set.
Serve hot, warm or cold!!
The filling is pretty easy to make. Wash your spinach and if the leaves are very big roughly chop them. I used baby spinach and thus didn't have to do any chopping, just washing. Wash fresh spinach very carefully because it has the tendency to be extremely muddy. If you are in Sri Lanka you will have to remove the thick stems and use only the leaves (450 g without stems). Stems on European and American spinach are fine.
Put the spinach in a very large pan and heat over medium high heat with the lid closed until the spinach wilts. While the spinach is cooking dice the onion and mince the garlic. Remove the spinach from the pan and squeeze some of the liquid out. You don't need to make it dry, just get rid of some of the water. If the spinach is too hot to handle run some cold water over it.
If you are using frozen spinach the process is as follows: defrost the spinach, squeeze out excess water. This way you can reduce the preparation time of this dish by at least 15 minutes.
Set your oven to 180 C/190 C/ 375 F (fan/conventional). Remove your pastry from the fridge and roll it out to fit your dish. I used a 9 inch cake spring form because my 10 inch Quiche form had to be retired and I hadn't gotten round to buying a new one. Bake blind for 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime place the pan back on the cooker, dry it out (either with a paper towel or by heating it up) and put the oil in to heat. Once the oil is hot add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 1 - 2 minutes. Add the spinach and stir through. Remove from the stove.
Mix in the cream, half the cheese, ground almonds and egg yolk in that order. The most important part is to add the egg yolk at the very end. By the time you add the yolk the mixture should be cool enough to prevent the egg from getting cooked. If your egg yolk gets cooked then the quiche will not set. All is not lost if this happens to you. Just allow the mixture to cool a bit more and add another egg yolk. If you do not have almonds you can use a couple of substitutes. I can imagine that you could use ground cashew as an alternative but that can also be expensive. To minimise cost use 1.5 tbsp. of flour as a substitute. Mix it in carefully so as not to form lumps. You might consider mixing it into the cream and then putting it into the spinach. Again be careful when putting the flour into something hot least it gets cooked and turns into "paappa". Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
By now your pastry should be done. Take it out of the oven, remove the baking beans and pop it back in the oven for another 5 - 10 minutes (until the base is baked). If pressed for time don't hesitate to skip putting it back in the oven. The worst that will happen is the base will be a bit under cooked. Once the base is cooked pour in the filling, sprinkle on the remaining cheese and the pine nuts.
Reduce the heat of the oven to 160 C and put the pie in the oven for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until the pie is set.
Serve hot, warm or cold!!
