Roasted Garlic, Mushroom, and Spinach Quiche

April 27, 2018 by Nicole Collins

Isn't it funny how sometimes you start with one idea and end up with a finished product that's nowhere near the original plan?

I think they call that a happy accident.

That's 100% what happened with today's recipe. And, a happy accident it was, for sure!

So, here's how this went down...

A few weeks ago, I planned a trip to a farmer's market in the city that I hadn't been to yet. I scoped it out all last year, but I never actually made it.

Let me tell you...this market was EVERYTHING! My friend and I spent almost 2 hours just browsing and chatting with vendors. And, of course, shopping!

So, my original intention at the market was to buy some fresh, local veggies to make a roasted veggie quiche. However, I pretty much bought everything but veggies. I bought mushroom salt, and granola, and horseradish cream cheese, and empanadas, and sooooo much other stuff. Not one veggie.

Not one.

So, the roasted veggie quiche was off the menu that week.

Then, this past weekend, I took my mom to a small farmer's market while she was waiting on her car to get an oil change. For the second time, my intentions were to buy some veggies for a roasted veggie quiche. But this time, my mom was the only one that did any shopping at the market. And, she didn't even really want to go in the first place.

Oops!

This market is a lot smaller than that ones in the city, and there just weren't many veggies out at all. There were lots of herbs and flowers out. But, I think the only veggie I saw other than salad greens was carrots. And, we all know that wasn't happening.

I wasn't ready to give up on the roasted veggie quiche yet. But, I got to the point where I didn't know what kind of veggies I even wanted in my quiche anymore. I was going to let the veggies speak to me at the farmer's markets; but after two failed attempts, I hit a brick wall.

Now, I'm the kind of person that shops at multiple grocery stores weekly to get my shopping done. So, the at the first grocery store I went to after the failed farmer's market attempt, mushrooms were calling my name. Mushrooms have been calling my name a lot lately, actually. I can still only tolerate them in little itty bitty tiny pieces, though.

Then, I saw some spinach, and I threw that in my cart too. And, as I was walking down the aisles at Aldi, the lightbulb went off. And, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to put in my quiche. And, an aisle full of Aldi shoppers knew what I wanted to put in my quiche too, because there was no mute button when the lightbulb went off. I was totally talking to myself out loud.

Anyway...that's how we ended up with today's Roasted Garlic, Mushroom, and Spinach Quiche!

See, still roasted. Just not roasted veggies.

We start with store bought refrigerated pie crust. It's just too easy. Bring it to room temp, press it in to a pie plate, and add the quiche ingredients. Done. Plus, you get 2 pie crusts in one pack, so you can freeze one for another quiche later!

For the veg, it's just the mushrooms and spinach. We saute the mushrooms with some fresh thyme until they're nice and caramelized, then we add in some spinach til it wilts. That's it. Super easy, right?

Now the custard is a standard mix of eggs, heavy cream, and a little milk. I actually used almond milk (because I forgot to buy 2% milk), and it worked great! I used more cream than milk, and it made the quiche filling perfectly creamy.

But, the real star of the custard mix is roasted garlic. We roast our own garlic in the oven for 45 mins, squeeze out the cloves, and mash them with a fork before whisking it into our custard mix. The roasted garlic is what takes this quiche to the next level. It's sweet, and pungent, and tangy, and it pairs PERFECTLY with the mushrooms and spinach. The roasted garlic is EVERYTHING!

Layer the veg, some shredded swiss cheese, and the custard in the pie crust; bake it for about 40 mins; and get ready to take a bite of heaven. This quiche is so full of flavor, you'd never know there was barely any effort involved at all. Talk about amazing!

And side note, when I walked in to the second grocery store of the day last weekend, another lightbulb went off when I saw a row of summer produce staring me in the face. So hopefully, we'll actually get a roasted veggie quiche coming soon! Actually, it'll be a summer veggie roasted quiche. MMMMM!

But for now, let's just enjoy the quiche in front of us. And, let's eat!

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Roasted Garlic, Mushroom, and Spinach Quiche

Serves: 4 Print

Ingredients:

• 1 refrigerated pie crust, at room temp

• 1 small head of garlic

• 8 oz baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, chopped

• 2 cups fresh spinach, packed

• 2 sprigs thyme

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

• 5 eggs

• ¾ cup heavy cream

• ¼ cup milk (I used almond milk)

• ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste

• ¼ tsp pepper, plus more to taste

• 1 cup swiss cheese, shredded

• olive oil, for drizzling

Directions:

1. Roast the Garlic: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the head of garlic horizontally, about halfway from the top, to expose the cloves of garlic. Place cut garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle olive oil slowly over the garlic covering the entire top surface (less than 1 tbsp). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Wrap foil around the garlic to create a closed pouch, and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 mins. When finished, let cool for a few minutes before carefully opening the foil. When cool enough to touch, squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves, and mash with a fork.

2. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees. Heat butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and thyme sprigs. Saute until mushrooms are softened and starting to caramelize, 8-10 minutes. Add spinach, and saute for an additional 2-3 mins until the spinach is wilted. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine, remove the thyme sprigs, and set aside to cool.

3. In a mixing bowl, add eggs, cream, milk, roasted garlic, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Whisk well to combine.

4. Place pie crust in to a 9 inch pie dish, pressing along the bottom and the sides to shape the crust. Spread mushroom mix over the bottom of the crust. Top with cheese. Pour egg custard over the cheese. Bake for 35-40 mins until the crust is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center of the quiche comes out clean. Serve!

Recipe notes:

*We've got enough cream in the custard mix that you can use whatever type of milk you prefer. You could even skip the milk and just use 1 cup of cream, if you'd like.

*I don't like the texture of mushrooms, so I chopped mine up REALLY small. But, you could also just slice the mushrooms if you don't have an issue like me.

*Make sure you whisk your custard really well, because you want to be sure to break up the roasted garlic to evenly distribute it through the custard.

*You can store the extra swiss block that you don't use in the freezer by wrapping it back up in its wrapper and sticking it in a sandwich bag. When you're ready to use it again, just thaw it overnight in the fridge.