Spinach and Goat Cheese Upside Down Quiche

Here’s a quiche that looks like a pie. It’s a rich custard with creamy cheese, wilted spinach, sautéed onion, and a few fresh herbs, sort of a savory spinach flan. With a flaky whole wheat olive oil crust baked on top, I like to call it a spinach and goat cheese upside down quiche!

Custards are easy to whip up using eggs and milk or cream. Eggs and leafy greens pair well, so when you have greens and eggs on hand, quiche is a grand idea. In this recipe, instead of baking your quiche inside a pie crust, we pour the filling into a pie pan and then randomly cover the top with whole wheat olive oil pastry. Easy!

All you do is sauté onions and garlic, throw in chopped herbs, and wilt in the spinach. Rub a bit of oil in the bottom of a pan and spread the seasoned spinach around. Next sprinkle on some sort of cheese, in this case goat cheese. Whisk eggs and milk or cream together and pour over the spinach and cheese.

The wholesome whole wheat olive oil dough comes together in 5 minutes. It doesn’t need time to chill or rest so you can roll the crust out right after you make it.

Besides the ease of making this pastry, the real beauty is you don’t have to worry about rolling it perfectly or getting into the pan with grace. You just roll out the dough beteen sheets of parchment, and then cut it into wedges to arrange almost haphazardly on top. The custard seeps through in the baking, and molds it all together.

About the milk or cream. There are enough eggs and cheese in this recipe to set the custard. For the milk, you can use non-dairy milk, like almond, soy, cashew milks, or whole milk, low-fat milk, or half and half cream.

When you cook a mixture of greens, cheese and custard stove top in a skillet, it’s a frittata. If the savory combo is baked in a pastry shell, you’ve got quiche. When the crust goes on top, in my book, it’s upside down quiche.

Serve your upside down quiche for brunch. Or a light afternoon lunch. I usually make it for our vegetarian dinner. Refrigerate any left over–it’s just as delicious cold!

More recipe ideas:

• You might like this spinach custard with feta cheese, almond milk and fresh herbs.

• This herbed goat cheese and caramelized onion tart is baked in the same flaky whole wheat olive oil crust.

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Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Spinach and Goat Cheese Pie in The Greens Cookbook. (Affiliate link)

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Print Recipe

4.67 from 3 votes

Spinach and Goat Cheese Upside Down Quiche

This filling is a basic vegetable custard recipe. Feel free to substitute any greens, such as chard or kale, and your choice of herbs. The crust is a winner with rustic olive oil and whole wheat flavors, and just enough saltiness to keep you wanting another bite, and another. Makes one 10-inch quiche.

Prep Time45 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time1 hr 25 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: goat cheese, spinach

Servings: 8 servings.

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion , chopped, about ¾ cup
• 1 garlic clove , minced or ¾ cup chopped garlic scapes (see note)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 8 ounces spinach , stems removed, and leaves torn into 2-inch pieces
• 1/8 teaspoon plus ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 5 ounces goat cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk or cream (see note)
• Pinch cayenne pepper

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (6 ounces)
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

Make the whole wheat crust:

• Stir the flour and salt together in a bowl.
• In another bowl, whisk the oil and water until it is thick and creamy. Pour over the flour, all at once. Mix with a fork until blended, and then form into a flattened ball. Cover and set aside while you make the filling. This dough is fragile and a bit crumbly to work with–if that's what happens for you, that's normal.

Make the filling:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and garlic, or garlic scapes, if using, and cook a few minutes, until the onion is translucent. If you are using fresh garlic, let the onion cook several minutes before stirring in the garlic. Stir in the chopped herbs. (see note)
• Add as much of the spinach as the skillet will hold, stir a minute until it wilts and then add the rest, stirring until all the spinach has wilted. Season with the 1/8 teaspoon of salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 10-inch quiche mold.
• Distribute the spinach mixture over the bottom of the mold. Sprinkle with about half the cheese.
• Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Whisk in the other half of the cheese. Stir in the milk and the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and the cayenne.
• Pour over the spinach and cheese.
• Roll the whole wheat dough between 2 sheets of parchment to about the size of your pan. Gently remove the top paper. The dough will be fragile. Cut into rough pieces as best you can and arrange on top of custard. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs on top too.
• Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until the custard is set and beginning to show brown color on top.
• Let the custard rest 5 minutes. Serve warm. This quiche is also delicious at room temperature or cold.

Notes

• If it is early season, and they are available, use garlic scapes.
• Use fresh herbs of your choice–from your garden, or herbs you find in your CSA box or at the Farmer’s Market.
• You can use dairy milk or dairy-free milk. Half and half cream or heavy cream will make this upside-down quiche seriously rich. 

Nutrition

Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 400mg | Potassium: 375mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3060IU | Vitamin C: 9.1mg | Calcium: 145mg | Iron: 2.4mg

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