We picked up some artisanal sausages the other day from Trader Joe’s and they were pretty good. So here comes the quiche that uses these sausages as the base for the filling along with some select vegetables for added flavor and texture.
I’ve seen a lot of things charred that you wouldn’t think would work lately. Some lettuce charred over a super hot grill in New Mexico used in a salad. Various Peppers and other vegetables charred in a super hot cast iron pot in Israel and your usual Roasted Chile Peppers in both New Mexico and Colorado. This got me thinking of trying this with spinach. So after a couple of tries with the gas grill, I think I’ve got it. The charred spinach has a unique flavor and it doesn’t cook down quite as much as when you prepare it normally. You’ll need a gas or charcoal grill that is super hot. And you’ll only need it for a few minutes. No more than 4 minutes for the spinach and no more than 10 for the sausage. So this may be better prepared in advance of when you plan to serve this with another meal so you don’t make a lot of heat for just one dish.
Serves 8 – 10 (one Quiche)
Ingredients
- 1 – 1/2 lb Baby Spinach
- 2 or 3 Spicy Spinach Artichoke Chicken Sausages (or Spinach Asiago Chicken Sausage)
- 1/2 Yellow Onion
- 1/2 cup 4 or 5 shredded Italian Cheese Blend (5 cheese has more flavor)
- 1/4 cup Half and Half
- 3 oz Greek Yogurt
- 4 Large Eggs
- 9 in Pie Crust
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Marjoram (Optional for a unique Mediterranean style spice)
Preparation
Start your grill to get it as hot as possible. Take the baby spinach and spread it out on the grill when at least 400 F. Allow to cook undisturbed until you get some good charring on the edges. Flip as much as you can over to get a little more char on the other side. This shouldn’t take more than a minute per side. The spinach will loose a lot of volume and wilt quite a bit. But as long as you get some charred edges, that should be good enough. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Let the grill cool a little and put the sausages on the grill and cook until you get the same grill marks on the sausages. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Slice up the Onion by quartering and then slicing into 1/4 inch pieces. Place in an oiled pan over medium high heat and saute until fully caramelized and a golden brown. If you like you should add a dash of salt and pepper while this is cooking. This can take up to 20 minutes and I always add water to help keep from drying them out too much. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
The charred spinach should be cool enough to handle by now and you should cut the leaves into slices about 1/4 inch wide and you can mix them with the onion for storage until final assembly. Cut the cooled sausages into small 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks and store properly until final assembly.
Final Assembly and Cooking
Preheat the oven to 380 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the charred spinach, caramelized onion, shredded cheese and chopped sausage together until fully mixed. Then loosely place these ingredients into the pie crust. In large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, half and half and yogurt together and whisk until frothy or for about 4 minutes. Also add in the salt and pepper to taste at this point. When fully whisked pour over the ingredients in the pie crust and mix it around a little to make sure that the egg mixture fully mixes in to hold everything together. Top with a little more pepper and put into the oven to cook for 35 – 40 minutes or until the top just starts to brown. Remove from the oven and either serve of pack it up for the rink.