Ham Quiche
I’ve been on the lookout for deals on pint-sized bakeware lately as I’ve been on a bit of a baking kick and have been dissatisfied with my current bakeware selection. I had a set of lightweight, non-stick things that were given to me, but I found that they tended to disperse heat oddly, cooking unevenly, or burning the bottom of things before anything else had cooked.
My actual goal was to purchase a couple of mini-loaf pans, because it’s just the two of us here and making a full loaf of anything is either asking for trouble (read: a necessary nap after its entire consumption, followed by several pounds of guaranteed weight gain), enormous waste or things generally just taking up space in the freezer.
I bought two rectangular ceramic baking dishes today for $1.50 each. Banana bread will have to wait while I fool around with tarts and quiches. Something about having a freezer full of a half dozen pounds of butter and 10 kilograms of flour kicking around makes baking everything in a crust all that more appealing.
We’d made the trek out of NDG and picked up a 12 pound ham from Fairmount Butcher, our favorite butcher shop in the plateau, and baked it up for our Thanksgiving meal. Leftovers from ham are so much more agreeable to me than a turkey, and there’s current ham stock sitting in the fridge for split pea soup later this week, a couple sandwiches in my belly, and now a quiche for dinner. Excellent.
- 1/2 recipe pate brisee (pie crust)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup cooked ham, diced
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup spinach, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 ounces mozzarella
- 1 ounce parmesan
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the lower third of the oven. This will help the bottom of the crust bake properly without overcooking the top of the quiche.
- Roll out the pastry to 1/8″ thickness and place in your baking dish. Prick the bottom all over with a fork, line the crust with foil and cover with dried beans or pie weights and blind bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bottom is set.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. When it is hot, add the ham and brown it, stirring occasionally, just to add a bit of extra dimension to the flavor. Once the ham is browned, add the garlic and spinach and cook until it is just wilted. Set aside to cool.
- Whisk together eggs, cream and milk in a mixing bowl and season with salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Add the ham and spinach to this mixture.
- Remove the partially baked crust from the oven and discard the beans and foil. Combine the cheeses and layer over the bottom of the crust, then pour the contents of the mixing bowl on top of the cheese, dispersing the filling evenly.
- Bake until the crust is golden brown and the custard has set. It will look noticeably firm and a toothpick or knife can be inserted into the center and come out clean. This will take approximately 20-25 minutes.
- Allow to cool slightly, then cut into slices and serve immediately with a vegetable side dish, or cool completely and serve with a light salad.
This was baked in a half-sized baking dish, but this recipe can easily be doubled to fit a standard 9″ tart/quiche shell.