I finally got the time to make this pie at home. Betty has made it a couple of different ways at the tea room and had some really great reviews. She added 1 1/2 C. heavy cream this last time and it lightened the filling up quite a bit while not diminishing the flavor. She has always used frozen spinach, moisture squeezed out and weighed to make the 14 oz that it calls for. She has always added sun dried tomatoes which I like but didn't have any on hand to toss in.
This is a picture of the finished product from this mornings effort. Please allow me to tell you what I did and what my brother-in-law has suggested as well.
I used a my standard pie crust recipe to start with.. This pie pan/dish is one from William Sonoma that I picked up years ago on sale and would be like a 9" deep dish pie so I ended up with 3 ramekin full to bake out as well. These were about 3/4C each and sprayed with PAM.
I baked the pie for 15 minutes at 425F and then an hour at 350F.
I used the following:
15 oz. fresh baby spinach, chopped and micro waved for 1 minute (I used my food processor and did the chopping in small batches, it didn't really take long at all)
5 oz. Boursin w/Shallots, softened (in place of the 4 oz. cream cheese)
1 1/2 C. shredded Swiss cheese
scant 1/4 C. feta (all that I had in the draw)(David's idea)
1/3 C. Blue Cheese, crumbled (this wasn't a Maytag quality cheese, it was from Fareway)(David's idea)
3 drops of Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce
3/4 C. Parmesan (the recipe calls for 1 C. but I was adding these others so I didn't think I needed all that much)
1 C. evaporated milk (I didn't have cream or half and half in the fridg. and wasn't going to go shopping today)
I think that a bit of ham or bacon crumbles would have tasted good in it. Den polished off 2 of the ramekins in nothing flat so I would say that it was the flavor and creamy consistency that you expect with a quiche.
Give it a try and see what you think. It definitely was a hit at our house.
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Hey, I need your help on this one. I am going to give you this recipe the way it was written and tell you what I would change, what Betty thinks should be changed and you give me what you think. It is good but needs something.
Spinach Pie
10" pie crust
14 oz. spinach, chopped and micro-waved for 1 minute (this would be fresh spinach not the frozen in a box kind)
8 eggs beaten
2 Tbsp. parsley (I would suggest fresh over dried)
3 Tbsp. onion flakes
1 tsp. salt (this I would not put in with the amount of Parmesan cheese that is used)
Pepper to taste
2 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese (I would use Swiss and aged if I could get it,instead of the cheddar.)
4 oz. cream cheese softened
1 C. parmesan cheese
5 roma tomato slices for the top
Bake @ 350F for 1 hour
Betty would add 1 Cup of cream or half and half to make the pie more creamy and a few sun dried tomatoes in place of the slices on top, mix them in the pie. Betty also would changed the cream cheese to Boursin (it has more actual flavor than cream cheese does)
I would add 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper or a few drops of Tabasco (maybe in the crust) and as I said above I would use Swiss instead of the cheddar, I like the nutty taste of the Swiss against the spinach. I would maybe add a touch of nutmeg, not much, just a touch. A very small about of chopped shaved ham would be a change up for this.
Some of you are better cooks than I ever will be so tell me what you think.
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