I call this quiche “Real Man Quiche” in homage to the book “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” that was published in the early 80’s. Well, in my family, the men are as real as they come and they do eat quiche – specially when the quiche is a giant, meaty one like this one. Number 1 likes this deep-dish quiche because he feels it doesn’t leave him hungry like a wedge of regular-size quiche does. It’s basically the same as a normal quiche only with more meat and double the base ingredients. A springform pan makes it easy to unmold the big, heavy pie. Serve it with a salad or a nice bowl of soup and you have a filling, man-satisfying meal.
REAL MAN QUICHE
Crust:
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 lb. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 egg yolk
- 5-8 tbsp. ice cold water
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until mixture resembles cornmeal.
- In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with 5 tablespoons ice water.
- Add egg yolk mixture to dough and work in with your fingers until dough comes together when squeezed in your hand. If it is too crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough holds together.
- Shape dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Sandwich dough between two pieces of parchment paper.
- With a rolling pin, roll out dough into a 13-inch circle.
- Lay dough inside a 10-inch springform pan, fitting dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Trim off any excess dough. Freeze scraps for future use.
- Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
Filling:
- 1 lb. bacon
- ½ large onion, diced
- 8 large eggs
- 1 quart milk or half-and-half
- ½ tsp. salt or to taste
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ½ lb. smoked ham, cubed
- 1 (10-oz. pkg.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and water squeezed out well
- 2 cups shredded swiss cheese
- 4 tbsp. flour
- In a skillet over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp, remove from grease and drain on paper towels; then crumble into pieces.
- Remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from skillet, add the onions and cook until opaque.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs together, then whisk in the milk or half-and-half.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the crumbled bacon, cooked onion, ham, spinach, cheese and flour.
- Pour filling into prepared crust.
- Cover loosely with foil and bake 1 hour. and 30 minutes
- Remove foil and continue to bake until set and center jiggles slightly, about 15 minutes more.
- Cool about 45 minutes to an hour.
- Remove ring from springform pan, transfer quiche to a plate and slice into wedges.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Pinky's Pantry 