Ham and Spinach Quiche

This ham and spinach quiche is a lovely dish for brunch, lunch or dinner, with cubes of leftover ham, spinach and loads of extra sharp cheddar cheese. 

If you are trying to use up leftovers, you can’t beat baking quiche. Quiche is like an omelet: You can put anything and everything in it. If you have lots of leftovers, you might also want to check out my Omelets with Super Powers post.

Creating a quiche in two or three easy steps:

1. Choose a cheese (Cheddar, blue, Brie, Camembert, Gouda, Emmental, Swiss, etc.)

2. Choose a vegetable (Broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, asparagus, potato, onion, etc. Quick cooking vegetables can be added raw, for instance, tomatoes. Others, like broccoli and asparagus, should be parboiled. Still others, like potatoes or carrots, should be fully cooked.)

3. (Optional) Choose a cooked “meat” (Ham, bacon, chicken, beef, lamb, fish, shrimp, etc.)

Then, of course, you will add eggs, milk and cream.  Your quantities of everything will depend on the width and depth of your pie plate or quiche pan. 

The pie crust recipe I use is here. It is versatile and works just as well with savory and sweet fillings. It is the pie crust of my quiches, as well as my banana cream pie and apple rhubarb strawberry pie and pecan pie and so on. I am asked for the recipe often, but I cannot take credit. I come by it honestly: The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1980 edition, Zoe Coulson, ed.  

This cookbook was a gift from my mother-in-law on our first married Christmas in 1986 and it has been so well-used (read: falling apart) that I am on my THIRD copy now, purchased on Ebay. I had to have the same edition! Perhaps later editions have all the same recipes. I’ll never know. But in the 1980 edition, I know where everything is.  

I could wax eloquent about the Before You Cook section, amply used by my newlywed husband to cook wonderful meals for me upon his return from offshore, with its illustrations of kitchen tools and pots and pans and equipment, essential for a newbie. Or the Color Index with photographs of every one of the more than 900 recipes. Or the illustrated, step-by-step instructions.

Suffice to say, this book is one of only two we have taken in the luggage to every new overseas posting in 35 years of marriage. The second book is a binder of photocopied and handwritten recipes I have amassed over the years from friends and family.  

Ham and Spinach Quiche

My quiche pan was a wedding gift and I’ve used it more times than I can count over the last 35 years. It measures 10.5 in or 27cm across and is 1.5 in or 4cm deep. The ingredient amounts below fill it to perfection. You can also bake this in a normal pie plate. 

Ingredients

1 unbaked pie crust (I use this recipe.)

6 oz or 170g leftover baked ham 

4 1/2 ounces or 127g extra sharp cheddar, grated

3 1/2 oz or 100g frozen spinach (thawed, then drained)

4 eggs

3/4 cup or 180ml cream 

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper  

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and fit your pie crust into your pie plate or quiche pan. Dock it with the pointy end of a knife or the tines of a fork. 

If your ham is in one big piece, cut it into smaller pieces. I think cubes are always fun but you can just chop it up. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and milk. Fold in the ham, cheese and spinach along with the salt. 

Give the mixture a few good grinds of black pepper and stir again. 

Pour this mixture into your pie crust and bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven. My oven doesn't heat evenly so I like to put my quiche pan on another larger pan to make rotating it in the oven easier. 

After the initial 10 minutes, turn the temperature down to 350°F or 180°C and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. If your oven doesn't heat evenly, gently turn the pan around about three quarters of the way through the cooking time. 

Remove the pan from the oven and leave the quiche to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting it into slices to serve. 

I usually serve each slice of quiche with a tomato salad or even a green salad on the side but truly, it is a meal all by itself. 

Enjoy! 

Today is Easter Sunday and if you are reading this early in the day, you probably haven’t eaten your Easter dinner yet (I mean, if you do celebrate) but my Sunday FunDay friends and I are thinking ahead! At the instigation of our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm, we are sharing recipes designed to use up your Easter dinner leftovers! Check out all the recipes below.

• Au Gratin Potato and Ham Casserole from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Broccoli Ham and Swiss Casserole from Palatable Pastime
• Chef Salad from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Ham and Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits from Making Miracles
• Ham and Spinach Quiche from Food Lust People Love
• Leftover Brown Rice Cakes from Sneha's Recipe
• Toasted Croissant Croutons from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake #FoodieExtravaganza

This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is celebrating potato chips in anticipation of National Potato Chip Day, which is March 14. Our wonderful host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories encouraged us to make a dish, sweet or savory, that includes potato chips or to make our own homemade potato chips.

I’ve adapted this recipe from a Warm Roquefort Cheesecake created by the great Delia Smith so I’ve kept “cheesecake” in the title, but I must confess that it strikes me more as a quiche than a cheesecake. The texture is light and definitely more on the eggy side. In fact, my husband came through the door after work, as it sat on the wire rack cooling and said, “Ohh, quiche for dinner.” “I know, right?” I had to reply.

Delia, Delia, Delia. Never mind. You are still one of my idols.

Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake

I have made a couple of savory cheesecakes before and loved them. Both were appetizers, the first a Shrimp Cheesecake with Herbs and Spices,  the second a Savory Zucchini Cheesecake, baked in a Bundt pan. That’s why this recipe so appealed to me. Plus, I love blue cheese.

Ingredients
For the crust:
4 oz or 115g low salt potato chips
1 oz or 25g butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup or 200g full fat ricotta or cottage cheese
2/3 cup or 165g fromage frais (or sub full fat plain Greek yogurt)
3 spring onions, white and green parts, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 oz  or 175g blue cheese (I used a Fourme d”Ambert AOP.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and line the bottom of a 9 in or 23cm round tart pan with baking parchment.

Put your potato chips in a thick plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Pour the crumbed chips into a small bowl with the melted butter and mix well.

Tip the mixture into your prepared pan and use your clean hands or the back of a spoon to spread it out over the bottom and ever so slightly up the sides of the tart pan. Press it down to compact it.

N.B. If your tart pan has a removable bottom, it would be wise to set it in another larger pan before you put it in the oven.

Bake the potato chip crust in the preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. You want a nice golden crust.

While that’s baking, you can get on with the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, fromage frais, spring onion and salt with a few good grinds of black pepper.

Don’t forget to keep checking the crust. When it is ready, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 350°F or 180°C.

Crumble the blue cheese with a fork and fold it into the egg mixture.

Carefully pour the filling into the tart pan and sprinkle a few more grinds of black pepper to the top, if desired.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the outside is set and the middle is just the slightest bit jiggly. It will firm up more as it cools.

Leave to cool for about 15-20 minutes. Delia serves her savory cheesecake aka quiche with poached pears but I wanted a little crunch to go along with mine. I made a small salad of fresh pears with walnuts and dried cranberries dressed with a maple syrup vinaigrette. You can find that recipe right here.

Delia is absolutely spot on about pears and blue cheese. They go together so nicely.

Slice and enjoy!

And make sure you check out all the other lovely potato chip recipes we have for you today. Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories.

• A College Throwback + Potato Chip-Crusted Chocolate Tart from Culinary Adventures from Camilla
• Baked BBQ Potato Chip Crusted Pork Chops from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• How to Make Homemade Sun Dried Potato Chips from Sneha's Recipe
• Potato Chip and Roasted Cashew Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Potato Chip Crusted Salt and Vinegar Baked Cod from Palatable Pastime
• Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake from Food Lust People Love
• Pretzel and Potato Chip Cookies with Butterscotch Frosting from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Salty-Sweet Potato Chip Cookies from Hardly a Goddess
• The Potato Chip Sandwich from Our Good Life

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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