Spinach, green onion and smoked gouda quiche

I really wanted to try this recipe but I knew that my other half doesn't like wilted spinach. Spinach salads are ok but cooked greens, no way. So I reluctantly asked him if he would try it, and surprisingly, he agreed!  Let me just say that I'm glad he did, this is sooooooooooo amazingly good.

I admit, I am a lover of quiche. I was a little worried about this being a CL recipe; would it have the same tasty goodness of a regular quiche? You can see this quiche has a crust, so it's not as healthy as a crustless quiche, but it calls for reduced fat milk.  CL has downsized the portion size, which is not filling enough for a meal. I think instead of the 10 servings this quoted, we ended up making it 6 (341 cals per serving).  Perhaps you could make it 10 servings if you served this with a salad.  I also can't remember if we used 1% as the recipe calls for, or if we used skim (we usually have skim).  If I were you, I'd just try it with 1% instead of experimenting with skim.  I'll just have to make this again using skim and report back right? :)  I also used store-bought crust since I already had it.

So I tagged this with a 'vegetarian' label which the original recipe is, but we made a few non-veg friendly modifications. First of all, we used the Yancey's Fancy Smoked Gouda with Bacon.  It was creamy and delicious and it was the only one we could find at our grocery store.  Secondly, we added in leftover rotisserie chicken (maybe 1/2 C to 1C) to give this even more protein.

This is definitely going in the book. I want to make this again...soon.

As of today's post, 10 people agreed that it's a 5 out of 5!

Recipe by Joanne Wier, Cooking Light, August 2010

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 6  tablespoons  butter, softened
• 2  tablespoons  1% low-fat milk
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  large egg yolk
• 5.6  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• Filling:
• 1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 3  cups  fresh baby spinach
• 1  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated smoked Gouda cheese
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• Dash of grated nutmeg
• 3  large eggs

Preparation

1. To prepare crust, place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Combine milk, salt, and egg yolk in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add milk mixture to butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour; beat just until combined. Press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Unwrap and place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 10-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze 15 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. To prepare filling, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 2 minutes.
5. Combine 1 cup milk and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in spinach mixture. Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Cut into 10 wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 205

Fat: 12.9g (sat 6.8g,mono 4.3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 7.3g

Carbohydrate: 15.4g

Fiber: 1.1g

Cholesterol: 113mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 405mg

Calcium: 120mg