Spinach and Red Pepper Quiche

I love when I make something that I have never made before and it turns out not only to be beautiful, but delicious.  This is one of those things.  I found myself with a bag of spinach that was set to expire, some eggs that were well on their way to their expiration date and a red pepper that was beginning to get a little soft.  Not only that, but I've had this tart pan forever and had yet to use it.  This quiche was such a success in using up my old ingredients and giving me a reason to use a new toy that I even went so far as to make my own pie crust.  Pretty, delicious and healthy to boot.  What a great dish!  Who says quiches just have to be for brunch?  I made this for a perfectly light and healthy dinner.  

As I said, I made the crust from scratch.  You can buy store bought, but I love my crust recipe.  It's so cheap, easy and delicious I can't justify buying store bought, but to save time, store bought works. 

Here's how I made this quiche.  Loosely adapted from Epicurious.com.  Makes 3 dinner size servings. 

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, cold

1/2 cup butter, cold and diced

1/2 cup milk, cold
(Or omit the above ingredients and use a store bought crust)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 bag baby spinach

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 cup crumbled feta

2 large eggs

1/3 cup heavy cream or milk

For the pie crust:  Cut shortening and butter into flour and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cold milk. Dump out on lightly floured surface, pat into a flat disk, cut in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. (You will only need one half for this recipe.)

Preheat oven to 425.  On a lightly floured surface, roll crust into a 9 inch circle.  Press crust into a fluted tart pan or a pie plate, going 1/2 inch up sides.  Bake crust on the bottom third of the oven for 7 minutes or until set and pale golden in color.   

Meanwhile, in a saute pan over medium heat add olive oil and saute diced peppers until soft.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.  Add spinach leaves and cook until leaves are wilted.  Remove from heat.  In a bowl, whisk together eggs and cream or milk. 

Sprinkle feta on bottom of pie shell.  Top with spinach mixture.  Pour egg mixture over spinach mixture.  Place dish on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for 10 minutes more, or until set.