Rosie's Extra Yummy Spinach & Feta Cheese Quiche

Hi Honeys,
For a while now Hubby & I have been trying to be a little healthier. Part of this has been putting a little more thought into not just what I cook for our evening meals, but also what ingredients I use.  I use olive oil now where I might have used vegetable oil before, and I'm always on the look out for new ingredients to combine in different ways to keep dinner interesting.

Last night I made a quiche, nothing new, it's one of our favourite meals and there are so many variables on what you use in a quiche. Cheddar cheese and red onion is one of our favourites, for instance.  Last night though I made a spinach & feta cheese quiche which was truly delicious and I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Last night there were lots of compliments and clean plates after serving this quiche so I'll definitely be adding it to our rotation of regular dinners :)

Spinach & Feta Cheese Quiche

Ingredients:

for shortcrust pastry case:

125g plain flour
a pinch of salt
55g butter or margarine - cubed
2-3 tbsp cold water
OR use a packet of shop bought shortcrust pastry.

For quiche filling:

1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic (I used frozen but more about that later)
400g spinach
3 medium eggs
100g feta cheese

Directions:

1.  Place your flour into a mixing bowl, add a tiny pinch of salt.

2. Cut 55g from your block of butter or margarine and cut into small cubes.  Add these cubes to your mixing bowl and mix using your fingertips until it looks like rough breadcrumbs. Be careful not to "over mix" or touch it for too long to prevent it becoming "greasy" because the heat from your hands will melt the butter if touched for to long.

3. Add water a few drops at a time until your mixture becomes a dough, being really careful not to add too much.  Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for approximately 10 minutes to rest.  Alternatively, you can use a store bought pack of shortcrust pastry.

4. Remove pastry dough from fridge and roll out on a floured surface. Use your pastry to line a greased flan tin. I use one with a removable bottom, since it makes removing the quiche easier.

5. Return your pastry case in the flan tin to the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes (longer is better if possible) This stops the pastry from slipping down the inside of the flan case whilst baking.

Your shortcrust pastry case should be "baked blind."  Essentially this means to place a piece of grease proof paper/wax parchment on top of the pastry, and using "baking beans"  to weight the pastry down whilst baking.  Ceramic baking beans can be bought and are re-usable over & over again but I use white rice poured over the grease proof paper, removed when the flan case is baked. Alternatively, use a flan dish in a size smaller and sit it inside your flan tin on top of the grease proof paper. This is done to prevent your pastry "bubbling" during baking and keeping its shape.

6. Carefully place your flan tin into pre-heated oven, middle shelf, at 160C or 320F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, allowing to cool a little before carefully removing your weighted grease proof paper. Place back into the oven for 4-5 minutes until surface is golden.  Set flan tin aside until needed. Remember to keep pastry case in the baking tin as it will be going back into the oven.

7. put a pot of water on to heat, when boiling, add a pinch of salt.  Carefully add the spinach and allow to cook till wilted, it won't take long approximately 1 or 2 minutes at most.  

Very carefully, remove the pot from heat, drain away all excess water.  Gently press the spinach in the empty pot with a slotted spoon or other implement to press out excess water.  It's surprising how much water is retained by spinach, and its important to remove as much as you can to prevent your quiche from being soggy.

8. Placing your spinach to one side, finely chop your onion. Place your onion in a frying pan with a little olive oil (or butter/margarine would be fine too honeys.) I've used a red onion but it's fine to use a brown onion if you prefer.

9. Cook your onions over a medium heat for a minute or two, add your garlic and stir to combine. Continue to cook for a further minute or two. It's fine to use fresh garlic if you have it but I tend to rely on my trusty spice rack.  Arthritic hands have made me grateful for any help that easier options can give honeys. 

Garlic is available in lots of different forms in supermarkets now, there are frozen versions, tubes and jars of a paste version, as well as the trusty jar on the spice rack too, so lots of choice.

10. Once your onion & garlic are combined, put to one side and fetch a mixing bowl. To the mixing bowl add your 3 medium eggs, beat your eggs together.

11. "Crumble" your feta cheese into small crumbs & add to the eggs in your bowl, add your garlic onions & spinach to your bowl too. Stir gently to make sure all of your ingredients are coated in egg.

12. Pour your egg, spinach, garlic onion and feta cheese mixture into your flan case and return to the oven. Bake uncovered on the middle shelf, at 160C/310F, until your egg mixture is cooked.  The flan is done when the egg mixture is set, ie: you'll be able to poke the middle with a skewer or a knife and it will come out clean. This should be around 15 - 18 minutes.

Slice, serve and enjoy :) I served this last night with oven roasted potatoes and a crispy green salad and it was truly delicious :)  Another of our favourites is a fabulous two cheese & red onion quiche which you can find here.

So honeys, over to you.  Do you have a favourite quiche recipe? I'd love some new ideas to try. Do let me know in the comments section below. Thank you for visiting, I hope you're having a wonderful week full of fun and smiles, sending heaps of hugs xx