When I was a young cook the saying was, “Real men don’t eat quiche”. I’m not sure of the current status of quiche but for pastry lovers and people who like to put some effort into their weekend brunch this Spinach Feta Quiche is a treat. So don't be using skim milk instead of half and half, make a real quiche and make it rich, creamy and delicious.
Difference Between a Single Crust and Double Crust Pie Shell
A single pie crust recipe is for pies that have only a bottom crust like Pumpkin Pie or Lemon Meringue Pie. Pot pies sometimes have a top crust only so the same single crust recipe works for them.
A double crust recipe makes enough dough for a pie that has a top and a bottom like a good old Apple Pie.
Recipes often refer to ‘standard sizes' but there is so much variety available it's hard to know what they are referring to. An old-fashioned standard pie plate often means a shallow 9-inch pie plate with fluted edges.
There are all kinds of beautiful ceramic baking dishes that are larger and deeper than the standard 9-inch pie plate. Before you bake remember that a larger dish, or a deeper dish, will require more pastry. The deeper dish will also need a longer cooking time.
I included a double crust recipe here. I always make my double pie crust recipe and use the extra dough to make mini quiches, hand pies or meat pies. I also try different ideas to use up the last bits of the pastry since I have some every time I teach my pastry cooking class.
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Gluten Free Pastry Tips
There is no end to learning about gluten free baking. These are the three tips I think are important for a successful quiche.
- Prebaking the crust and sprinkling a layer of Parmesan cheese on the bottom prevents the dough from becoming soggy.
- Placing the piecrust on a baking sheet adds insulation so the bottom of the quiche cooks completely.
- Cooling gluten free baked goods is an important step to help the structure.
Frozen vs Frozen Spinach
I love fresh ingredients but I don’t always love making another trip to the grocery store. Everyday cooks need to stock canned and frozen ingredients so there are still lots of options as fresh ingredients disappear each week.
Frozen spinach is one of the ingredients I keep on hand. It doesn’t even seem possible that spinach should freeze and be edible but it is.
Tools for Gluten Free Bakers
Depending on how interested you are in making pastry you might want a few tools to make it easy.
- Anything from a standard pyrex 9-inch pie plate with a fluted edge to a colourful ceramic deep dish pie plate is perfect for quiche.
- Every kitchen needs a rolling pin whether it’s a classic wooden rolling pin, a heavy marble one designed to stay cool for working with pastry or a modern silicone style rolling pin.
- Flexible baking mats or inexpensive light weight cutting boards are perfect for flipping pastry to ensure it doesn’t stick. I bought these when I was new to gluten free so I could quickly grab a clean surface (avoiding cross contamination) for any job. Since then I've found lots of uses for them.
Let me know in the comments below how your pastry making is going.
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Gluten Free Spinach Feta Quiche (with pastry recipe)
Ingredients
DOUBLE CRUST PASTRY (enough for 2 quiche or a pie with a top crust)
- 6 tablespoon cold water
- 3 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 380 grams EGFG gluten free flour blend* (2¾ cups + 2 Tbsp)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 cup butter cut into ¼-inch pieces and freeze for 10-15 minutes
FILLING
- 5 eggs
- 2 cups coffee cream (or any cream 10% fat or higher)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach , thawed and squeezed dry
Instructions
MAKE PASTRY
- In 1-cup measuring cup combine water, sour cream and vinegar. Set aside.
- Combine flour, sugar, salt and xanthan gum in food processor with dough blade. Process 10 seconds to combine.
- Add cold butter from the freezer and process until combined into uniform crumb-like mixture.
- Add sour cream mixture, process until a dough begins to form and stick together.
- Using your hands, and sprinkling the dough with sweet rice flour, form it into a ball incorporating all the crumbs until you have a uniform texture.
- Divide dough into 2 pieces and flatten each piece into a round thick disk shape. Wrap each piece in a generous amount of wax paper. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
MAKE FILLING
- Whisk eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper together in a large liquid measuring cup. Add spinach and stir with a fork. Set aside at room temperature.
ROLL OUT PASTRY
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove one piece of dough from fridge, unwrap and leave in the center of the wax paper. Lightly dust each side of the dough with sweet rice flour.
- Using a rolling pin start in the center of the dough, rolling out toward the edges. Dust, flip the dough and dust again to prevent sticking, always rolling out from the center. Use two sheets of wax paper or wax paper and a flexible cutting mat. Continue rolling and flipping until you have an 11 or 12-inch circle of dough ⅛-inch thick.
- Remove wax paper and invert the dough into the pie plate. Quickly push the edges of the dough into the curved shape of the pie plate before it cracks.
- To make a thick edge crust tuck the excess dough under itself, crimping the edge into the rim as you go. Alternately, use a knife to cut off the excess dough and simply push the dough into the rim of the pan with your thumb and fingers.
- Chill pie crust in freezer for 15 minutes before baking.
BAKING QUICHE
- Bake pie crust in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle bottom of crust with Parmesan cheese and bake another 5 minutes.
- Place piecrust on wire rack and reduce oven temperature to 350°F. The crust must be warm when you add the filling.
- Sprinkle feta cheese on the bottom of the crust. Pour egg mixture into crust until ¼ inch from the top. You may have some egg mixture leftover.
- Place quiche on a rimmed baking sheet and return to oven. Bake 40-45 minutes until top is lightly browned and set. Insert the tip of a knife in the center. If it comes out clean it's done.
- Let quiche cool before cutting. Reheat before serving if needed.
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