ALL-BUTTER PASTRY CRUST

Ingredients: 

• 12 oz (340 gm) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (two sticks, 8 oz, 227 gm) butter
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup (240 gm) ice water
  

Instructions: 

1. Dice up butter and freeze for at least 15 minutes. Put large bowl into freezer to chill during this time.
2. Add flour and salt to food processor; pulse quickly to blend.
3. Add butter and pulse for ten 1-second bursts until it looks like coarse crumbs (see notes).
4. Transfer butter-flour mix to chilled large bowl. Sprinkle 1/3 cup ice water over mix and toss with large spoon to distribute. Sprinkle 1 tbsp water at a time, tossing mix and squeezing with your hand until it comes together but isn’t sticky (see notes).  
5. Turn dough out onto a wooden surface, pat it into a circle, and divide it in half.
6. Form each half into a disc, about 5-inches wide. 
7. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until ready to use. 
8. This recipe makes enough pastry crust for two quiches. The remaining half can be tightly sealed and frozen for up to three months. Thaw dough overnight in refrigerator and use as described below.
9. For the quiche: you will want to parbake the crust before adding the filling. Preheat oven to 425°F.
10. Roll one disc until it forms a 12 inch circle, dusting with flour only as much as needed to keep it sticking to the surface and rolling pin.
11. Transfer dough to 9-inch pie pan (see notes). Dock the dough to the plate by sticking a fork into the bottom several times (helps prevent puffing). Place into freezer for 15 minutes to chill and rest the dough.
12. Put pie pan on baking sheet. Place crumpled parchment paper on top of the dough and put weights into the pan (can be dried beans, sugar, or special pie weights).
13. Place baking sheet into the lower third of the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
14. Remove from over and remove the weights and parchment paper. Re-dock the bottom of the crust.
15. Place back in over for an additional 10 – 12 minutes until the base looks dry and the rim is lightly browned.
16. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature while you prepare the quiche filling.

Notes:

• The secret to pastry crust is to keep everything cold. You can put the bowl in the refrigerator at any time to chill if the environment or your hands are heating up the dough too much.
• If you don’t have a food processor, dice up refrigerated butter without freezing it, but do chill the bowl in the freezer. You can use either a pastry cutter or two butter knives to cut the butter into the flour until the butter chunks are pea-sized.
• There isn’t a set amount of water that can be added to a pastry crust—it depends on the humidity and the flour. A well-hydrated pastry crust will form a smooth disc. If it is too dry, it will be crumbly and not stick together; add 1 tbsp ice water at a time until it comes together. The dough will be sticky if you’ve added too much water; add a tbsp or two of flour to the dough if this happened. You shouldn’t need the entire cup of ice water to hydrate the dough.
• Handle the dough only as much as needed for it to come together in the disc. Do NOT knead the dough–this will develop gluten and make the dough tough.
• I prefer using stainless steel pie pans because they efficiently transfer heat to the dough, helping to avoid “soggy bottoms”. A baking steel is especially useful for making pie and pastry; it helps stabilize the oven’s temperature and quickly transfers heat to the metal pan.

SPINACH QUICHE 

Ingredients

• One parbaked 9-inch pie crust
• 2 tbsp olive oil or unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 8 oz (225 gm) baby spinach
• 4 oz (110 gm) gruyère cheese, shredded
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 large eggs
• 1¼ cups (300 gm) heavy cream
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Black pepper to taste
• ¼ – ½ tsp grated nutmeg

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Saute the diced yellow onion in 1 tbsp olive oil or butter over medium heat for 20 minutes, until soft, translucent, and lightly carmelized. Sprinkle the onions with a pinch of salt at the beginning of the saute to help draw out water. Set aside to cool.
3. Saute the baby spinach in 1 tbsp olive oil or butter over medium heat until just wilted. Add the minced garlic at the end of the saute to briefly heat the garlic. Let cool, then squeeze out excess moisture from spinach.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the heavy cream, salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and nutmeg; whisk until evenly combined.
5. Spread the onion evenly over the bottom of the cooked crust. Top with 1/3 of the grated gruyère. Spread the spinach mix as the next layer, then top with the second third of the gruyère. Pour the egg/cream mixture gently over top, then top with the remaining gruyère.
6. Put the quiche onto a baking sheet and place onto an rack in the middle of the oven. into the oven and bake at 350°F for 35 – 45 minutes, until the custard is set and lightly golden. You can put under the broiler for 1 – 2 minutes to brown the top, if needed.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.