Quiche with chicken, mushrooms, and spinach

Some people make lists before going shopping for groceries. I often do that. Yet, I don’t write a fully detailed list. Sometimes, for example, I’ll put down “fruit”, or “vegetables”.

The fact is, while I do have a few items already planned out to buy, I like to browse at the grocery store, see what kinds of foods and spices are available, and then pick out what seems most appealing at the time.

Also, I do not have a regimented menu in my home. Somehow I can’t stand the idea of being constrained to one or another meal on a particular day. Instead, most times I like to be free to use the ingredients in the house to make what works best for that particular day, create a new recipe, or reinvent an old one.

So, long story short: I had some great fresh ingredients in the house and came up with this lovely chicken, mushroom, and spinach quiche. I hope you will enjoy it as much as my family did.

Ingredients

For the filling:

1 shallot
2 Tbsp butter
5 baby bella mushrooms
1/8 cup white wine
1/2 lb chicken breast
10 small dried sage leaves
one or two handfuls fresh baby spinach
8 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
7 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup ice water

Instructions

Baking temp: 350F

Baking time: around 50 minutes, or until crust is golden and crisp.

Gather all ingredients, as well as a good pie or tart pan. I used an 11-inch tart pan, and it worked wonderfully.

Prepare the crust:

Add the flour (1 1/2 cups) and salt to a bowl and mix. Cut the chilled butter into small cubes. Use a pastry cutter to work in the butter until your dough resembles a fine meal. Finally, add and mix in the 1/3 cup water, little by little, as needed. The dough is ready to be chilled in the refrigerator as soon as it is moistened and comes together when pressed. The less working it, the better.

Prepare the filling:

Dice the shallots. Cut the chicken into small cubes. Slice the mushrooms. Coarsely chop the baby spinach.

Sautee the shallots in a saucepan in the oil and butter. Add the chicken to the pan and allow to cook a bit. Next, add in the mushrooms as well, allowing them to sautee.

Add the sage leaves, crumbled small, as well as the salt and a good grinding of fresh pepper.

Pour the wine into the pan and allow it to cook off. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender and the chicken cooked, but still moist.

In a bowl add your 8 eggs and wisk them. Add and mix in about half of the milk. Add about 1 Tbsp of flour to the other half of the milk and combine until all lumps are dissolved. (I like to do this by adding the flour and milk to a jar and shaking vigorously until combined.) Add the flour and milk mixture into the bowl of eggs and milk and mix.

Assemble the quiche:

Roll out the pastry for the crust and place it into your tart pan or pie plate.
Add the sauteed vegetables and chicken to the tart pan, as well as the spinach.

Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and chicken and bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 50 minutes, or until the quiche is looking golden brown and the crust golden and flaky.