Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Because our farm market is reopening for the spring in just a few days, we whipped up this springy quiche with a bunch of things we’ll have available in the shop—spinach, fresh farm eggs, Woodlands pork. But if you stop by spring or fall, we are likely to have all of those things in stock. They are all cool weather staples here at CHF.

So, it’s almost like you could buy this quiche from us at the farm store. In pieces. Some assembly required. Just like Ikea.

Savory. Light and fluffy. Packed with spinach and cheese and bacon and carmelized onions. The crust is a flaky mix of flour, lard, and butter. And we made this in a springform pan so that we all got extra quiche innards per slice. But be warned, this recipe is written to fill a 10” springform pan. This recipe will likely overflow a traditional pie plate. In all likelihood, this recipe could likely fill two pie plates.

Feeds 8

Ingredients

for dough

2½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
½ cup chilled salted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
½ cup chilled lard, cut into ½ inch cubes (We used lard rendered from Woodlands pork leaf lard)
5 TBSP (or more ) ice water

for filling

2 whole Yellow Onions, diced and caramelized
8 slices Bacon (We used Woodlands Bacon)
1 pound spinach
10 whole Large Eggs (farm fresh from a local grower are the best)
1¾ cup Heavy Cream Or Half-and-Half
1 tsp sugar
1½ tsp dijon mustard
Salt And Pepper, to taste
2½ cups grated cheese, we used a mix of emmantaler, an Amish Swiss, and parmesan

Directions

preheat your oven to 375 degrees (when you’re ready)

for dough:

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and lard; using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Slowly add 5 tablespoons ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump together, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Dump dough on to a sheet of plastic wrap. Gather dough together into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap up and chill for at least one hour.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. If necessary, soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

for filling:
Chop and fry your bacon in a medium-sized pan until chewy. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Scrape onions into bacon fat fry pan and allow to caramelize over low heat while you prep out the rest of the filling (give them the occasional stir).

Wash the spinach (it always needs more washing), shake excess water off and then dump, still damp, into a fry pan over medium heat. Using tongs, move the spinach around, flipping it over frequently until it’s all evenly wilted down. Place aside in a colander to drain. Once cool, you will also have to squish out the extra moisture. Overly damp spinach is a frequent spoiler of quiche (and pizza and frittatas and and and). Squeeze it in your fist. Squish it between two bowls. Whatever it takes. Then chop it finely.

Whisk eggs, cream, cheese, mustard, salt, sugar, and pepper well in a large bowl. Once cool enough, add bacon, onions, and spinach to egg mixture and combine thoroughly.

Roll dough out in a large circle, about one-quarter inch thick. Carefully line a 10” springform pan with the dough. Fold the overhanging dough inward so that it stands about one inch higher than the edge of the pan. Smooth the rough edge into the dough inside the pan. Crimp the top edge for pretty effect.

Pour egg mixture into dough-lined pan. It should reach about three-quarters full. During cooking, the filling will puff up and the dough will shrink down—meeting in the middle.

Cover with foil and cook for 35 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes. When the quiche is done, the center should feel firm, but jiggly, exactly like jello. It will firm up a bit while cooling off on the counter. If it feels like it needs more cook time—re-cover the quiche with foil and pop it back in the oven, checking it every 3 minutes for doneness.

This quiche is great when first cooked. It’s also delicious cold or reheated. Serve this with a few strawberries and a cold vinegar-y/garlicky asparagus salad and you will be the brunch winner of the month.