Quiche is NOT one of José’s favorites. Something about the onions not being thoroughly cooked turns him off. Me? I’d pretty much eat quiche every day.
We ran across a recipe for this quiche in the February 2015 issue of Bon Appetit and decided to give it a whirl. The carmelized garlic is the key to this dish and the rosemary & thyme add the perfect savory compliment to the sweetness of the maple syrup.
You can carmelize the garlic and prepare your pie crust (up to the point of freezing it) a day ahead. We haven’t checked yet, but I’m pretty sure this would be great morning-after food.
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust
- 5 large eggs
- 3 heads of garlic, cloves peeled
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 6 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¾ cup crème fraîche
- ¾ cup heavy cream
Hardware
- 9” pie tin – dark bottom preferable
- Parchment or aluminium foil
- Pie weights or dried beans for blind baking a pie crust
- kitchen scale
- Pastry brush
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Roll dough to ~14” round. Fit into pie crust, trim excess leaving ~1 inch overhang. Fold overhang under and crimp to form a fluted edge.
- Freeze for 15 minutes.
- Remove crust from freezer, line with parchment or aluminium foil, fill with pie weights (or dried beans) and bake for ~30 minutes.
- Lightly beat one egg in a small bowl.
- Remove pie crust from oven, remove parchment with pie weights, brush crust with lightly beaten egg and return to oven.
- Bake 10-15 minutes until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Unbaked Pie Shell
- Place peeled garlic cloves in a small saucepan, cover with water. Add 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt and bring to a boil.
- Boil garlic until the cloves soften, about 3 minutes. Drain, discarding water.
- Wipe saucepan dry, and heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Add garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes until cloves begin to brown.
- Add balsamic vinegar & 1 cup water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes until garlic is tender.
- Add maple syrup, rosemary, thyme & 1 teaspoon each of kosher salt and pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes until liquid thickens to a syrup consistency. Remove from stovetop and set aside to cool.
Carmelized Garlic
- Whisk crème fraîche, cream, and remaining 4 eggs in a medium bowl until well combined.
- Add ~½ of the COOLED garlic heads to the egg mixture. Stir to combine and set aside.
- Scatter 1-1½ cups grated cheddar over cooled crust.
- Top with spinach.
- Pour reserved egg mixture over spinach.
- Pour remaining garlic with the syrup over the quiche. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
- Place in 350°F oven. Bake 35-40 minutes until center is set and top is golden.
- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.
Assembled Quiche
Carmelized Garlic, Spinach, Cheddar Quiche
Hi! I just wanted to drop you a quick note: I found your Carmelized Garlic & Spinach Quiche and made it for my boyfriend yesterday. He loved it. I loved it. We took some to my mom and she loved it. Thanks – you guys are fabulous!
My mom used to sell quiche professionally (so we use her recipe). This sounds really good! May have to add the roasted garlic (though my BF doesn’t care for garlic and eggs).
You can freeze quiche! Prepare it ahead of time, everything but baking the quiche. Place it into the freezer (careful to keep it level) and let it freeze. Remove, wrap in plastic and foil, and return to freezer. Thaw in fridge before cooking.
When we do quiche, we carmelize the onions before adding them to the quiche. This gives them some extra yumminess and removes some of the moisture to keep the quiche from being runny.