Mediterranean Quiche

One of my favorite flavor profiles is Mediterranean. It's fresh, it's light, it's flavorful and just reminds me of great times (dates, birthdays, getting Gyros at Caesar's on Lomas and Wyoming at unspeakable hours of the night). I also love quiche! The flaky crust, the rich filling, the perfect pairing with Mimosas on the right occasion...I'm getting off topic. Anyway so tonight I decided to get my mind off the terrible weather in Raleigh (it's cold, rainy, windy) by making Mediterranean Quiche! I adapted this recipe from my Fix-It-And-Forget It Vegetarian cookbook.

Mediterranean Quiche

The tried and true no-fail quiche crust:

2 C flour
1 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp sugar
4 Tbsp shortening, chilled
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 C ice water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, shortening and butter using a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course cracker crumbs. Slowly add in 1/2 C of ice water and knead until the dough resembles...dough.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and place in springform pan. Using a fork, score the dough to prevent over-rising.

Par-bake the crust for 9 minutes.

The filling:

1/4 C vegetable oil
1 small red onion, diced
1 small eggplant, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 C spinach
2 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp pimentos
1/2 Tsp dried basil
1/2 Tsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 C heavy cream
3 eggs
1/2 Tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

In a deep skillet, saute onion and eggplant in oil until fork tender over medium-high heat (helpful hint: covering the skillet helps!) Add in the tomatoes, spinach, capers and pimentos and cook until spinach is wilted and season.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, egg, salt, garlic and Parmesan until combined.

Spoon vegetable mixture into prepared crust and pour egg mixture over it. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until set.

This recipe would've easily yielded two full quiches! Regrettably, I only prepared one crust so I divided my mixture into my crust and turned the remainder into a fritatta.

I served my delicious quiche with a simple salad of spinach, fresh blackberries, kalamata olives, chopped walnuts and feta cheese. It was the perfect accompaniment to the rich and buttery quiche.

Stay safe out there readers! I know Raleigh isn't the only place Mother Nature's hitting hard this week.