By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- 5(715)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This is a classic combination for a quiche, but it’s lighter, with a whole-wheat and olive oil crust. If you don't have the time to make the crust, store bought will work just fine.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 1yeasted olive oil pastry (½ recipe)
- 1½pounds fresh spinach, stemmed and washed in 2 changes of water, or ¾ pound baby spinach, rinsed
- 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1medium onion, finely chopped
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 4eggs
- ¾cup low-fat milk
- 2ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (½ cup)
- 1ounce freshly grated Parmesan (¼ cup)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
222 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 509 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
Step
1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 10-inch tart pan and line it with the pastry. Keep it in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
Step
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Steam the spinach above an inch of boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, until wilted. You will probably have to do this in batches. I like to use a pasta pot with an insert for steaming spinach, as I can get a lot of it into the insert. Rinse briefly with cold water, squeeze out excess water and chop medium-fine.
Step
3
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender and beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Add the spinach, thyme and salt and pepper to taste, and stir together. Remove from the heat.
Step
4
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add salt to taste (I use about ½ teaspoon) and whisk in the milk. Stir in the onion and spinach mixture and the cheeses. Scrape into the pastry-lined tart pan. Place in the oven and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until tart is set and beginning to color on the top. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or room temperature.
Tip
- Advance preparation: You can make this a day ahead. You can make the filling through Step 3 a day ahead, and the crust can be made weeks ahead and frozen.
Ratings
5
out of 5
715
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Cooking Notes
Figaro
Easy cook spinach: I have a 4qt saucier, rounded bottom like a wok. Heat on high, pour in a small amount of olive oil; dump 2 bags of baby washed spinach into hot 'wok'; season with s&p; turn spinach as it starts to wilt with tongs. Dump into a colander over a dish. The spinach should be bright green and not cooked through, it will continue to wilt & cook while sitting; the liquid will drain through. Squeeze of press the liquid out. Now it's recipe ready.
sandy
Too bland. Needs either more onion or more seasoning or both.
Guadako
Delicious.I combined mushrooms and spinach and did it without the crust.It came out very well.
Jacqueline
Great dough. As for the filling, in a 12" skillet, start with browning 2 Italian sausages, taken out of their casing, then the onion and definitely add garlic (3 to 4 cloves sliced) in the sausage fat, add oil if needed, and scrape up the fond from bottom of the pan. Adding nutmeg to the egg mixture is a tasty addition and de rigueur in most French quiches, as is replacing the milk with heavy cream. These changes will take care of comments that the original recipe was too bland - live now!
David Look
Martha said yes, definitely; use a 1 1/2- to 2-quart baking dish and oil it with olive oil.
Kay
Based on earlier comments I upped the onion a little and added a clove of garlic and a shallot. For the greens I used what I had around - some beet greens, chard, baby kale, and flat leaf parsley. Delicious! Mine took longer to cook than indicated here, more like 1 hour. The crust is amazing - easy to make and so easy to work with. I made it ahead, filled and cooked it straight out of the freezer.
LK
I have made this so many times now and it's become one of my favorite go-to dinners with servings left for lunches in our two-person household. Very forgiving; like others, I've used lots of combinations of hearty greens like spinach, chard and kale. I usually add a little bacon or Italian sausage. Lots of melty cheeses can work. Red onion is a nice alternative. Garlic, yes please. Thank you!
Anne D
Made this morning with no crust, still perfect! Also used mix of Swiss chard (steamed longer) and spinach. Threw some cherry tomatoes directly into pan. Love it with the olive oil crust as well, just decided to try without this morning as a time saver / fewer calories. Happy with results.
Katya
I recommend blind baking the dough beforehand. 10 minutes with pie weights (or with substitutes) 10 minutes without the weights. Once cooled down, add the mixture and bake.
Meta
Good but not exciting. The yeasted crust is extremely nice to work with and good.
Suellen
Try using frozen steamed spinach. Sauté onion with bacon and garlic. Add 1/2 tsp nutmeg to egg mixture. Use whole milk or 1/2 and 1/2.
Angie
I used just around 1/4 cup of romano grated and it was perfect! Great recipe! Served it with a simple green salad and roasted tomatoes.
Moon
Added a clove of garlic, extra parmesan, and a bit of parsley. Came out great!
Asha
Classic, super adaptable dish. Made it heavy on the onions, added garlic and parsley. Totally unnecessary to steam the spinach, curious as to the rationale for that in the recipe. Spinach cooks almost instantly: just throw it in with the onions.
terri c
I really liked this recipe and it made a fabulous main dish. I used baby spinach, and next time I will use large leaf spinach, which has leaves which are thicker and not so fragile. It would’ve given the pie a little more density I think. The olive oil crust recipe is a keeper somewhere between a pizza crust and a pie crust. I’m so glad I experimented with it on this recipe. Perfect for a savory pie.
hannah
Added a few ounces of bacon. Cooked them, then cooked everything else in the bacon fat and added the bacon bits back in at the end.Used cheddar cheese and one extra egg.Delicious, and the crust is great, too .
Donna
I just made this tonight after reading all these comments about being bland. It was not. I loved it and will make it again. However I realized with 15 minutes left to bake that I forgot to add grated fresh parmesan so I just added it on top and continued baking. Mmmm. That's the way I'm going to do it always.
Liz Edits
Add ~1 C bello mushrooms, diced. Add to onion, halfway through cooking.
coinkitchen
This was delicious, but also a lot of work. My crust was crisp at the top edges and soft like bread on the sides and bottom of the tart. Overall I was pleased but I would not make this again.
Pidge
Really enjoyed this, turned out beautifully though I will blind bake the crust or try baking on the bottom rack next time. The ratios were perfect and it held up beautifully and didn't get soggy. I was quite surprised at how perfectly the filling fit in the tart pan. I did modify the crust to be gluten free due to allergies (teff, almond and potato flour and tapioca starch with brown rice sourdough starter instead of yeast) but it came out beautifully and was surprisingly easy to work with.
KM
I’ve made this several times now…always use extra spinach & lightly sautée instead of steam…tonight had spanikopita on the brain and made w/mix of mozz, feta, & a little pepper jack. Used buttermilk & red onions, added nutmeg & mustard…
nikkileeks
Brilliant picnic item or served with a salad for a light lunch
september
Was not crazy about this at all. Not a fan of yeasted dough in a tart.
Asha
Classic, super adaptable dish. Made it heavy on the onions, added garlic and parsley. Totally unnecessary to steam the spinach, curious as to the rationale for that in the recipe. Spinach cooks almost instantly: just throw it in with the onions.
Julia
Question for Martha Rose Shulman or the NYT cooks and/or chefs: I notice that the ingredients list 1.5 pounds of fresh spinach OR 3/4 of a pound of baby spinach? What is the difference between the two; why is 3/4 of a pound less needed if using baby spinach: is this correct?
Julia
This was delicious! As everyone has said already, the whole wheat crust is airy and light and colors beautifully. Because I only had 9.5 inch tart pan, the filling overflowed, but this didn't matter. We cracked it off the cookie sheet and enjoyed that as a bonus treat. The tart is perfectly tasty and yummy, and juicy (in a good way.) I highly recommend. Goes great with a salad and a glass of wine.
Danni Eldred
This recipe is a keeper! It turned out as lovely as the picture and was quite delicious. I love any variety of spinach and cheese baked goods, but many of those versions are heavier. This is quite light but still flavorful. I substituted fontina for gruyere because that is what was available and also used an additional one to two ounces. The crust dough was very easy to work with.
k
This is very bland. I'd prefer a quiche with more eggs;Added one red pepper for color.
em
Can it be served cold?
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