Let Him Eat Quiche!

The other night The Herbal Husband had a hankering for quiche.  So I made a Ricotta and Spinach Quiche from one of my favorite cookbooks, Three Rivers Cookbook II.  I only have the first two, but I think there are four in the series.

Ricotta and Spinach Quiche-Serves 8
"A quiche most everyone loves - this makes a large one."
 Original recipe by Marlene Parrish


pastry
1 bunch fresh spinach or 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach
1 cup Ricotta cheese
nutmeg, grated
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup cream & 1 cup milk or 2 cups half & half
4 eggs, lightly beaten
salt & pepper

Line a deep 10" quiche pan with your favorite tart pastry, prick and bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees.  Meanwhile, wash spinach and cook for a few minutes.  Squeeze out all liquid and chop: should be about 3/4 cup.  Combine spinach with Ricotta, a little nutmeg and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Spread over the bottom of pie shell.  Combine eggs with cream, milk and salt and pepper.  Pour over Ricotta-spinach mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until puffed and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let quiche sit 10 minutes before serving.

Here is my additions and subtractions to the recipe.  I added a chopped onion sauteed in a little butter or olive oil, cooled, 1 t. of oregano (an Italian mixture or even dill) and an 1/8 t. garlic powder to the first mixture.   I also reduced the cream/milk mixture to 1-1/2 cups and used only 3 eggs not 4.  I also did not bake the pastry ahead, but I baked the quiche for 45 to 50 minutes total.  You need to let it sit for at least 10 minutes.  The Herbal Husband could not wait to dive in and it had a lot of liquid!  So don't listen to your family!  Wait until it rests before cutting it.  Hope you enjoy it!

P.S. I would like to thank the three brave souls who participated in my poll question about lemon verbena in the dark in the winter.  I think that one person is going to try it next season and the other two had not tried it.  I have never tried it, but I do keep our lemon verbena in a southern window in the winter.  Here is an earlier post about my favorite herb, lemon verbena.