Spinach and Artichoke pizza

Spinach and Artichoke Quiche

Here’s a quiche to celebrate the green of spring, with spinach, artichokes, shallots, and goat cheese. So good!

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Making Homemade Crust time: 2 hours
• Yield: Serves 6 to 8

We give instructions for making your own crust from scratch. You can also easily use a frozen pie shell, just keep it frozen, do not defrost.
We use goat cheese in this recipe. You could easily sub with grated Gruyere or Monterey jack.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, 8 Tbsp) butter
• 2 to 2 1/2 Tbsp of water
• One 9-inch pie dish

Quiche: 

• 1/2 cup, packed, finely chopped artichoke hearts (cooked fresh or canned artichoke hearts packed in water)
• 6 ounces cooked spinach (if using frozen, thaw first), squeezed to remove excess water (wrap in clean tea towel or several layers of paper towels and squeeze), finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 4 eggs (large)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 Tbsp minced chives or green onion greens

MethodHide Photos

1a In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and use your (clean) hands to work the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that looks like a coarse meal with pieces of butter no bigger than a pea. Sprinkle water onto the flour mixture a little at a time, and work the dough with your hands until the dough can be formed into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour.

1b When you are ready to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and let come to room temp for 10 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a diameter 2 inches wider than your pie or tart pan. Drape the rolled out dough over the pie or tart pan and press the dough into the sides of the pan. Trim and crimp the edges. Place in freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.

At this point, if you want, you can "blind bake" the crust. Pre-baking the crust will ensure that the bottom crust is browned and won't get soggy. I often skip this step and find that although the bottom crust might not get browned, it's usually perfectly palatable. To pre-bake the crust, line the inside with aluminum foil and fill it with pie weights such as beans. The foil and the pie weights will help keep the sides of the crust from sliding down as it bakes. Bake for 15 minutes at 375°F, then remove the foil and weights, prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork , and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool down a bit before filling with the quiche custard filling.

2 Melt butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the minced shallots and cook 3 to 4 minutes until translucent. Remove from heat.

3 Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the goat cheese and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the milk, cream, salt, pepper, chopped spinach, chopped artichokes, the cooked shallots, lemon zest, and the chives.

4 Pour filling into the frozen pie crust. (If you are using a tart pan with a removable bottom, you may want to put the pan on a foil lined or rimmed sheet pan.) Place in oven. Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and cook for 30 minutes, or until the center of the quiche has set.

5 Remove from oven and let sit and cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.