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Recipe: Bacon, Spinach & Cheddar Quiche

A college friend from out of town was in NYC for the weekend to attend a wedding and I invited him over for breakfast. I was feeling in the mood to entertain and wanted to make it nice, so I whipped together this delicious Quiche the night before. It’s delicious and pretty easy to make. I went whole hog and made the crust from scratch, but I wouldn’t blame you for using a ready-made crust from the store.

Quiche is basically a savory egg custard pie and you can put whatever toppings you want in it. I went with the very standard bacon, spinach and cheddar combo, but you can get inventive. You could go greek style and do sun-dried tomatoes, lamb sausage and feta…the possibilities are endless.

Since hot eggs tend to be a bit soft and runny, you want to make a Quiche in advance and then warm it up when serving. This gives the eggs time to set and you’ll be able to cut a beautiful slice with no mess.

I served my breakfast spread with a little tossed side salad of mixed greens, pickled shallots, blue cheese crumbles and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and got some fresh strawberries and cherries from the market for a sweet treat.

Enjoy!

Bacon, Spinach & Cheddar Quiche

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: moderate
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This easy to make and delicious quiche makes for an impressive breakfast presentation. You can prepare a day in advance and warm up quickly.

Ingredients

    Crust
  • 1 cup flour
  • ⅓ cup butter flavored crisco
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ice wateras needed

    Filling

  • 6 whole eggs
  • 1½ cups whole milk
  • 4 shakes worchestershire sauce (adjust based on your taste)
  • 2 cups fresh spinach, throughly chopped (frozen is ok too)
  • ½ pound smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

    Prepare the crust
  1. Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter to incorporate the crisco into the flour. Mix until the fat is in pieces the size of small peas.
  2. Drizzle ice water (must be cold) into the mixture and stir with a fork to wet the flour mix. Gently mix the dough until it is one ball. Don’t get it too wet and don’t over-handle the dough or it won’t come out flakey. You should still be able to see chunks of the crisco in the dough.
  3. Place the dough in a plastic sandwich bag or some plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour to chill. The dough can be made up to 24 hours in advance.
  4. Prepare the filling

  5. In a medium mixing bowl, crack 6 eggs and add milk, worchestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Mix this well. An immersion blender is fast and works great.
  6. Prepare your other fillings and have them ready to assemble.
  7. Assemble and Cook

  8. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
  9. On a clean, smooth surface, spread some flour and roll out the dough. Keep dusting with flour and rolling it out until thin and large enough for a 9″ pie plate.
  10. Put the dough in the pie plate, leaving excess dough hanging off the side until later.
  11. Put the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the pan, distributing evenly. Then, carefully pour the egg mixture on top.
  12. Trim the dough down to a ½” hangover on the pie plate. Twist the dough up into the edge of the pan to create a crust.
  13. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Check for doneness. When a knife can be pulled out of the middle of the quiche without egg mixture on it, you are ready.
  14. Let cool, slice and serve.

You can replace the fillings (spinach, bacon and cheese) with whatever suites your taste. Try some fun new combinations.

You don’t want to serve the quiche straight out of the oven, or the eggs won’t set firmly. This dish is actually best prepared the day ahead and then warmed up in the microwave prior to serving.

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