Spinach and Gruyère Quiche with Homemade Crust — The One I Ate Standing Up All Week

April 11th is coming — Jess's birthday. She would have been twenty-three. I bought the vanilla candle at Jewel this week, a new one to replace the one I burned in the dorm room last year on this day. I will light it and make fried eggs. This is what I do on April 11th now. It is what I will do for as long as I cook. Some rituals are not optional once you have made them.

The strange thing about grief in year two is that it lives inside ordinary things without announcement. I was at Target this week buying clearance supplies for the classroom and walked past the greeting card aisle and saw a birthday card with sunflowers on the front and stood there for three seconds too long and had to move. No one saw. I put three packs of pencils in my basket and went to the register. This is what year two looks like: you just keep shopping, and you cry in the car on the way home, and then you get home and eat lunch.

Made quiche this week — the real kind, with a homemade crust. Pie crust (butter, flour, water, a little salt, worked cold and rested in the fridge), filled with eggs and cream and sauteed onion and spinach and gruyere from the end of a wedge. Baked at 375 for forty minutes until just set. It sounds fancy. It costs about four dollars for a quiche that feeds four people or one person for four days.

I ate it for breakfast all week, cold from the fridge, standing at the counter. Cold quiche is one of the underrated foods of our time — the pastry firms up, the filling sets properly, and you can eat a slice in the amount of time it takes to drink your first cup of coffee. Jess would have liked this. She liked eggs in all forms, which I think about every time I make them. Which is often. Which is the point.

So here’s the quiche. The one I made this week, the one I ate cold every morning before school, the one that cost four dollars and kept me fed without having to think. If you’ve never made your own crust, this is a good place to start — it’s forgiving, it’s cheap, and it gives you something to do with your hands on the kind of week where you need that.

Spinach and Gruyère Quiche with Homemade Crust

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes (plus 30 minutes chill time) | Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup gruyère cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Make the crust. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and work them into the flour using a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing gently with a fork until the dough just comes together. Shape into a flat disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Roll and blind bake. Preheat oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish and press gently into the bottom and sides. Trim and crimp the edges. Line the crust with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment and set aside.
3. Cook the filling vegetables. While the crust bakes, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
4. Mix the custard. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until smooth.
5. Assemble. Spread the sautéed onion and spinach evenly across the bottom of the par-baked crust. Sprinkle the gruyère over the vegetables. Pour the egg custard over everything.
6. Bake. Bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes, until the filling is just set — it should still have a slight jiggle in the center. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Storage: Refrigerate leftover quiche covered for up to 4 days. Eat cold straight from the fridge or reheat gently at 300°F for 10 minutes. Cold is better.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 39g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 540mg