Spinach-Sausage Quiche

I love love love quiche, and I had forgotten how lovely the combo of spinach and swiss cheese is until I made this one. I also used Aidells chicken/turkey sausage flavored with portobello mushrooms because it is lighter than a traditional pork sausage, but also packed with scrumptious mushroomy flavor (Aidells is one of my favorite food companies, and they make a couple of dozen different flavors of sausage, including a fantastic Andouille, by the way).

1 frozen pie shell (you don't think I make dough from scratch every time, do you?)
5 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk or cream
2/3 pkg chopped spinach, thawed
6 ounces Swiss cheese, chopped or shredded
2 links mushroom sausage
salt and pepper

First, pre-cook the pie shell so that the bottom crust doesn't get soggy. About 20 minutes in a 350 oven should be sufficient. And don't worry if you don't have parchment and weights - the crust might puff up a bit, but it will fall again as if it never happened. Leave the oven on at 350.

Slice sausage into thin coins and saute about 5 minutes, turning frequently. Remove coins from pan and set aside. In same pan, add a tiny drizzle of olive oil and saute the spinach. Salt and pepper it to taste. Cook about 5-6 minutes, so that some of the liquid evaporates. Drain off any left in the pan. Grate the Swiss, or, if you only have sliced cheese, as I did, just chop it into tiny squares.


In a bowl, toss sausage, spinach and cheese. Pour into pre-cooked pie crust. Beat the eggs with the milk, and pour over the spinach mixture. Prod with a fork to distribute beaten eggs as evenly as you can throughout the spinach mixture.


Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to 325 and bake 30-35 minutes more. Eggs should be set and slightly moist in the center, but not runny or wet. Depending on your oven you might need to bake it 5 minutes more. Also, if you like more cream in the eggs, you will definitely need to bake it longer.