My First Quiche – Improvised Spinach, Red Pepper, Goat Cheese, Onion and Chive Version

I have a lot of food guilt.  On top of regular guilt.  My food guilt comes in a variety of forms, from ongoing fear / guilt that I don't eat enough fruit and vegetables, to guilt about not eating at home enough, and to a disheartening feeling that I waste too much food, whether it's at restaurants or home.  

While this guilt usually just sits in my stomach and doesn't change behavior, I recently marshaled my guilt to good with the most frequent source of food waste in our apartment – eggs.  I only really use eggs in baking, and while I try to only buy eggs in half-cartons, I still find that they frequently end up in the trash.  I decided in the spring that this could no longer be my status quo, and I decided to put together an egg-heavy recipe that had the potential to become a staple in my kitchen – quiche.

I modified two recipes I found online, a Cook's Illustrated Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche and a Spinach, Red Pepper, and Feta Quiche recipe from Epicurious.  The result, a spinach, red pepper, goat cheese, onion (why not?), and chive quiche was actually quite good, albeit heavy.  

I made two critical mistakes while making this quiche – 1) I didn't roll the quiche dough wide enough, so the edges didn't quit cover the edges of the pie pan and the dough fell, 2) I used a lot of goat cheese, which I think made it taste a little too rich and sinful (swapping one guilt for another!).  I think if I make slight adjustments for the next round though, I'll have a versatile recipe that can easily use up whatever leftover eggs, vegetables, and herbs are in my fridge.

Spinach, Red Pepper, Goat Cheese, Onion, and Chive Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-baked pie shell (I used a Cook's Illustrated recipe)
• 1/3 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper, with additional red pepper set aside for garnish if desired
• Approx. 1.5 cups of spinach, chopped
• 4 – 5 chives, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces, divided
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 oz. herbed goat cheese, roughly cut into 1/2 chunks
• 3 whole eggs
• 1.5 cups half and half
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Start by preparing a pie dough, if you are making your own.  And dough is cooked, adjust oven temperature to 375 degrees.

• Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large saute pan.  When glistening and hot, add onion and red pepper.  Stir periodically until onion is translucent and the red pepper is softened.

• Then add spinach and 1/2 chopped chives, and stir periodically until spinach is just wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.

• Pour mixture into pre-baked pie dough.

• Then whisk together 3 eggs and half and half, and pour on top of quiche mixture.  Sprinkle remaining chives on top of dish, and decorate with other vegetable pieces as desired (e.g., my poor red pepper slices below).

• Place quiche into oven, and bake for approx. 32 – 35 minutes or until center is set.  Serve when warm or at room temperature, and store leftovers in the fridge.