cheesy caramelized onion + spinach quiche with homemade crust

Author: Maria Olson Goins

i love a good quiche, and i dare say, i’ve created quite a divine quiche recipe. i used to make quiches in store bought crusts, but making your own turns out to be surprisingly easy and tastes sooo much better. crunchy buttery crust, cheesy yummy filling, this is a perfect brunch dish to serve guests, along with a green or carrot salad.

i always make two quiches, so i have one left over for the next day, or i could freeze it for another weekend, and whip it out as if i’ve just baked it from scratch. but to be honest, i’ve never gotten to freeze the second quiche. my hubs just devours it. and guests always want a second slice. the crust is not perfect looking but i like it that way, there are some crunchy overlaps and it’s uneven, because when i roll it out i leave it in that shape rather than trimming into a circle and wasting scraps. the crust is so simple to make you’ll be surprised. i make it the day ahead and store in the fridge. sometimes i even pre bake the crust the day before.

the great thing about this quiche is the simple inexpensive veggie ingredients. onions, and frozen spinach. you probably have that in your kitchen right now.

and the secret sauce to the quiche is the cheese. i use two kinds of cheese. Gruyere, which is my preferred choice, but is pricier. i buy it at Costco, but if i can’t, i buy the more cost effective alternative, Gran Cru, which is very similar to Gruyere. i grate either Gruyere or Gran Cru in my food processor.

the other cheese is blue cheese crumbles. don’t worry if you don’t normally like blue cheese. you can’t taste it, as i melt it into the onions and cream, it just adds the richness and an irresistible aroma. trust me on this one.

this is my favorite go to brunch dish, and i swear you will fall in love. i serve it with a a simple green salad made with red leaf lettuce and sprinkled with pumpkin seeds, or a super boost carrot salad, with grated carrots, and cilantro.

cheesy caramelized onion + spinach quiche with homemade crust

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 45 minutes

cheesy caramelized onion + spinach quiche with homemade crust

Ingredients

CRUST:

2 cups organic all purpose flour
extra flour for sprinkling on counter + buttered baking dishes
1 tsp sea salt
2 sticks cold unsalted organic butter
6 tbsp ice water

FILLING:

2 organic red onions
2 organic yellow onions
2 cups organic heavy cream
2 tbsp organic unsalted butter
1 tbsp organic olive oil
10 oz packet frozen organic spinach
8 organic eggs
1/2 lb (2 cups) grated Gruyere or Gran Cru
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp each of salt + pepper

Instructions

CRUST:

put flour + salt in food processor
add cold butter cut into small chunks
pulse until it looks like coarse meal
add ice water slowly and mix, briefly, making sure not to over mix, just until it forms a dough
remove dough, separate into 2 thick flat disks
wrap in plastic wrap, pop into a ziploc, store in fridge for several hours, or overnight
remove from fridge, let sit for 15 mins until room temp
sprinkle flour on counter
roll out disks slowly, letting dough rest and shrink
butter and flour 2 pie baking dishes
lift dough onto each dish, guiding it gently into the dish, without stretching
leave sides to go over
poke holes with fork all over
pop into freezer for 15-30 mins
prebake in oven on 375 for 15-20 mins until golden
check after 10 mins, pierce with fork all over again to let steam escape if necessary
let cool, you can leave pre baked crusts out overnight if needed

FILLING:

french cut onions (thin slices from stem to root)
melt butter + olive oil in griddle
saute onions until caramelized on low heat
when they start turning brown, lower heat, add 1 cup of heavy cream
stir through, sprinkle blue cheese, melt it in, stirring gently, turn off heat
defrost spinach
put spinach in clean kitchen towel + squeeze out water
sprinkle layer of spinach into prebaked crusts
spoon onion cream mixture on top
sprinkle rest of spinach on top
make custard by mixing eggs with rest of cream
add nutmeg, salt + pepper
pour into crusts
top with grated cheese
pop in preheated oven at 375 for 15 mins
lift overlapping sides of crust and fold in over filling
lower temp to 350, for another 30 mins, or until cheese crust is golden brown
let cool for 15 mins before slicing

Notes

the recipe is for TWO quiches. as you can see from the pics, one is slightly bigger than the other, so adjust as needed. if you're making one, half the amounts.

https://livluna.com/cheesy-caramelized-onion-spinach-quiche-with-homemade-crust/