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.

Tomato Bread Soup

My husband just made this recipe for dinner this evening in an attempt to use up some stale baguette we had left over from last night. It was delicious and I want him to make it again! It's adapted from a meal we had in a restaurant several weeks ago.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 large can crushed tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
about 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 andouille sausage, cut into 1/3 inch coins
1/2 baguette cut into 1/2 inch slices
shredded parmesan cheese to garnish

Saute chopped onions in oil in a small dutch oven until translucent. Add garlic and saute about a minute. Add sausage and cook about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add water and bring back to a boil. Add bread slices. Cover and simmer approximately 10 minutes. Add chopped basil and cook until basil is wilted. Add sugar, and salt & pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish generously with parmesan cheese.

Note: in the summertime, you can get fresh, ripe tomatoes in season, and I bet this recipe would be even better by using about 3 pounds of roasted tomatoes. Just halve the tomatoes, place in a roasting pan (with sides, so the juice doesn't drip!) brush with a little olive oil, and roast until skins start to peel off and tomatoes are very soft. Remove skins, and use an immersion blender to get the consistency you want. I think that little chunks of tomato would be lovely for this rustic soup, so don't overblend. You might need to add less water too.

A wine that is delicious with this soup is an Argentinian torrontes. This is a white grape varietal exclusive to Argentina and is sturdy enough to stand up to the spicy meat and acidic tomatoes in this recipe. It is slightly reminiscent of a viognier with some peach scents, so it is also nice with any spicy or garlicky foods and intense cheeses.