Blue cheese and spinach quiche

posted on August 21, 2009 in cheese, recipes, savory quiches/tarts, vegetables with 1 Comment

A few weeks ago Amir cheated on me with the cheese department at Whole Foods. I know it’s terrible, but I’ve forgiven him and we’ve managed to rebuild the trust in our dairy relationship.

Because of said cheating we had a quarter of a pound of Bleu d’Auvergne sitting in our fridge. Bleu d’Auvergne is my go-to blue that I recommend for people who want something slightly pungent but not overpowering. They don’t want a completely whimpy cheese but they also don’t want to be punched in the taste buds (not that that’s a bad thing). It’s a cow’s milk cheese, fairly creamy, not too salty, and a little spicy.

Now, I had a customer come in the shop who was buying Roquefort for a Roquefort and leek quiche from Bouchon by Thomas Keller. This got me to thinking about making a blue cheese quiche of my own. Rather than turning to Mr. Keller who seems a bit too militant a cook for me, I looked to the woman of the moment, Julia Child. I love her, as just about everyone does and Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a masterpiece. Every recipe I’ve ever tried has come out perfectly, including this one.

Blue Cheese and Spinach Quiche
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

This quiche is the perfect size for two people. We ate half of it for dinner one night and the rest of it the next day. It ended up being more of a “let’s clean out the fridge” quiche as I had blue cheese that was about to turn and a bunch of wild spinach.

If you’re a little unsure about blue cheeses, stick with Bleu d’Auvergne. However, you shouldn’t be afraid of trying something like a Roquefort or a gorgonzola, the cottage cheese, eggs and cream temper the cheese so the quiche doesn’t taste too strong.

partially pre-baked 8″ quiche shell (I promise I’ll let you in on my secrets of crust making, I just need to recruit Amir to take pictures of the process)*
3 ounces blue cheese
6 ounces cream cheese or cottage cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 eggs
about 1 or 1-1/2 cups spinach, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh chives or 1/2 tsp minced green onion tops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Blanch spinach for 3-5 minutes. Saute over medium heat to remove the excess water.

Mix together both cheeses, the butter, and cream with a fork. Beat in the eggs. Push the mixture though a sieve to get rid of any lumps.

Add salt and pepper and cayenne to taste, then stir in the chives.

I sieved the cheese mixture directly into the pan with the spinach, but if you haven’t done that, stir in the spinach.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pastry shell. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the quiche has puffed and the top has browned.

*I recognize that the picture of this crust does not recommend my crust-making skills but I promise you it tasted amazing. It’s been so hot here getting crusts into the pan in one piece has been a minor triumph.