As mentioned before we’re slowly emptying out our freezer so we can defrost it. The freezer that never stops giving still has some surprises left, we can still make a chicken stock, there are some pita breads in there and beef stock. Last night I used up all the puff pastry and minced beef.
Sometimes for quiche I make the pastry from scratch, but if you’re not in the mood for the hassle and are in a bit of a squeeze for time then puff pastry works just fine as well. Great to have in your freezer, there’s always something you can make with puff pastry (appetizers, desserts, main courses).
For the mix I used 5 eggs, a small tub of cottage cheese, a handful of grated parmesan, some wilted spinach (quickly sautéed with a shallot and garlic), ribboned courgette, nutmeg and season with pepper an salt. You can just bake it as is to keep it vegetarian, but I added some curried minced beef. Great combo if I say so myself! Bake in a preheated oven (180°C for 40 – 45 minutes).
Spinach & Courgette Quiche served with Curried Minced Beef
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Loading...Ingredients
- 8 squares of puff pastry, or 1 whole sheet
- 200 g minced beef (optional, leave out if keeping it vegetarian, see notes)
- 2 tsp good quality curry powder, you could also use paprika, fennel or rosemary for example, whatever flavour you prefer)
- 300g spinach
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1/2 courgette, ribboned or thinly sliced
- 5 eggs
- 250 g ricotta
- 40 g parmesan, grated
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (or more to taste)
- Pepper & Salt to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Grease a pie tin or oven dish with some olive oil and dived the puff pastry over the bottom and the sides. Prick some holes in the base with a fork.
In a wok or frying pan add some olive oil and sauté the shallot and garlic for 1 minute.
Add a handful of spinach and sauté until wilted, repeat until all the spinach has been added.
Place the spinach in e colander and let it drain and cool.
In a mixing bowl add the eggs, ricotta, parmesan, nutmeg, lemon zest and season well with pepper and salt. Mix well so it's all combined.
With the back of a ladle or using your hands squeeze out the cooled spinach. Squeeze out as much juice as you can.
Mix it through the egg mixture and then pour the mixture over the puff pastry, making sure you divide the spinach well.
Place the courgette on top so it looks pretty.
Mix 2 tsp curry powder with the minced beef and season with pepper and salt.
Crumble the beef over the top and then lightly drizzle everything with some olive oil.
Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the puff pastry is nice and puffy and brown and the egg mixture, beef and courgette are cooked through.
Notes
Instead of beef you could also add smoked or fresh, salmon, smoked mackerel, feta, grated halloumi, pine nuts. What ever you fancy!
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