Sweet and tart Granny Smith apple combines with smoky bacon, buttery crust, and earthy spinach and cheddar in this Apple, Bacon, & Spinach Quiche. A savory bake with an egg-custard filling as the star, this quiche is the perfect blend of flavors, giving you just a little bit of everything with each bite. Not to mention, it’s great cold, slightly warm, or at room temperature and can be eaten at any time of day. Does it really get much better than that? I don’t think so!
It’s honestly surprising that I haven’t posted a quiche recipe before now because let me just say: I LOVE QUICHE. This probably makes me sound like a super old-school human (okay, that’s not wrong actually), but there’s just something about a food that’s savory but also falls into the category of pies and tarts that I love. The creamy egg filling and everything that goes into it just makes me so incredibly happy with every bite. There’s a heartiness to a quiche that makes it feel as if you’ve eaten something substantial but not too filling. Plus, all you really need is a small salad or veg to go on the side and you’re good to go for the day.
I always correlate quiche with my time in Scotland. A small group of students studying abroad in different cities took a trip to Firbush Outdoor Activity Centre on Loch Tay. I’m pretty sure this trip was the first time I played Jenga, but it also stands as one of my earliest memories of quiche (and haggis, but that’s a different story for probably not this blog). We had it for dinner on our first evening there, as we all piled into the lodge, placed our things by our bunks, and made our way to eat. It was delicious. But more so, they put the quiche out the following morning along with the breakfast options and we packed up a couple of extra slices to take with us for a snack on our Munro bagging excursion for the day.
Ever since that trip though, I cannot stop thinking about quiche. Usually, I’m too impatient and so I just pick up a frozen Quiche Lorraine from Trader Joe’s and pop it in the oven to heat through. While it’s delicious, it’s just not the same as a homemade quiche.
And let me just say, the addition of the apple in this quiche takes it to another level. The spinach, sharp cheddar (white in my case), and bacon are delicious on their own, but the added sweetness of the apple brings an extra element of flavor to help balance this quiche out.
It’s sweet, savory, and earthy all in one creamy eggy custard, wrapped in a buttery, flaky crust. Once you’ve made it, quiche makes for great leftovers, giving you even more savory baked goodness the next day! (If you have any left, that is).
| Cook Time | 45-60 minutes |
| Passive Time | 2-3 hours |
| Servings |
servings
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- 300 grams all purpose flour about 2 cups, spooned and leveled
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 170 grams unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 cup, cold and cubed
- 1 Tbsp vodka
- ice cold water as needed
- 1/2 Tbsp salted butter
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple chopped into small-ish (3-4 cm) chunks
- 5-6 slices bacon chopped into small-ish (3-4 cm) pieces
- 4 eggs large
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary)
- 2 cups baby spinach finely cut
- 1 1/2 cups sharp white cheddar grated
Ingredients
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- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Using your finger tips, rub in the cold cubes of butter until you have mostly pea-sized chunks of butter covered in flour with a few larger chunks as well. Using a knife or your fingertips, stir in the vodka until large clumps begin to form. Add in the ice water 1/2 Tbsp at a time until you can form the ball into a dough. Use your fingertips to pinch together any dry bits into the dough, sprinkle with water if needed to bring all the dough together into a ball.
- Lightly flour your countertop or work surface. Flatten the ball of dough into a disc and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12"x4". Fold the top 1/3 of the dough to the center. Fold up the bottom 1/3 of dough to overlap with the top half. Flip the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding process. Flip 90 degrees and repeat one more time. Wrap in plastic. Using a rolling pin, gently press down to flatten the dough and bring any remaining dry bits at the edges together. Allow the dough to chill and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- PARBAKE THE CRUST: Preheat the oven to 425°F and place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to heat up. Lightly butter a 9.5" pie dish. Roll out the chilled dough until it's about 1/4" thick and the circle of dough is larger than the pie dish so that you'll have at least 1 inch of overhang; trim as needed if there is more excess dough. Fold the 1 inch of overhang over itself and gently press to make the dough flush with the edge of the pie plate. Crimp as desired. Chill the dough-lined pie plate in the freezer until solid, at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, dock the bottom of the pie with a fork. Lie the pastry with a piece of parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice to keep the pastry from falling down the sides of the dish and from puffing at the center. Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet and return to the middle rack of the oven. Bake 16-18 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and take out the parchment paper with the weights. Brush the bottom and the sides of the crust with a whisked egg white to help seal any moisture from seeping into the crust. Return to the middle rack of the oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the bottom and the edges of your pie are golden brown and fully baked through. Remove the pie crust and allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
- Lower the heat of the oven to 350°F.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the salted butter. Add in the chunks of apple and bacon and fry off until the bacon is cooked through and begins to crisp and the apples begin to soften. Allow to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, and milk until the eggs are completely beaten and you can no longer see any of the white. Whisk in the pepper, mustard powder, nutmeg, salt, and rosemary.
- Drain any excess liquid off of the cooked bacon and apple and spoon into the par-baked pie crust. Top with the finely cut spinach. Pour the egg mixture over the toppings and sprinkle over with the cheese.
- Carefully place the quiche on the middle rack of the oven. I like to keep my pie dish on the baking sheet and place the whole thing in the oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes until the edges are set but the center still has a little bit of a wobble. The quiche will continue to cook as it cools.
- Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
*If you have a deeper pie dish, you may need to use 5 eggs, 1 cup heavy cream, and 1 1/2 cups milk.
**Quiche can be refrigerated or frozen and reheated at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.