Quiche with Leek, Asparagus, Baby Spinach, and Shredded Chicken

SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS

Roasted garlic (optional)

• 1 whole head of garlic
• About 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

Pie Crust (Note that you can use a 9 inch deep-dish store-bought pie crust instead)

• 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 5.5 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 1/4 lb skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces (makes 1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken)
• 2.5 teaspoons olive oil (+1.5 teaspoon olive oil or garlic flavored olive oil)
• 3/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon + 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 5-6 asparagus stems, bottoms removed, the stems cut into 1-inch pieces
• 5 whole asparagus stems, bottoms removed (optional; if you want to decorate the top of the quiche with asparagus)
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1 large leek sliced, white parts only
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1.25 cups shredded cheese (I like to use gruyere, or pre-shredded mix of mozzarella and gouda)
• 3-4 small cherry tomatoes, sliced in half, with inner seeds and liquid portion removed (optional; if you want to decorate the top of the quiche with these)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

METHOD

Roasted garlic (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Take a head of garlic, rinse off quickly under cold water, pat dry.
3. Put in a ramekin or tiny baking dish (small enough to just fit the garlic), pour olive oil over it and around it – enough so that about half the garlic is submerged. Cover with aluminum foil, bake in oven for about 45 minutes or until soft. Remove and cool.
4. After cooling, squeeze out the individual cloves of garlic from outer casing. Note: You’ll use only a couple of cloves of roasted garlic for this recipe. Save the rest of the garlic and flavored oil for later – to use with baguettes, etc.

Pie Crust (Note that you can use a 9 inch deep-dish store-bought pie crust instead)

1. While the garlic is roasting, prepare pie crust.
2. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor or blender. Add butter cubes, pulse quickly a couple of times to mix; you’ll see little pebbles in the flour.
3. Add ice water, pulse quickly a few times until the flour starts turning into dough (don’t over-mix).
4. Take the dough out into a big bowl or flat board, gather it to form a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk, put it in a zip-lock bag and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
5. In the meantime, cut out 2 pieces of parchment paper in the shape and dimensions of the base of the pie-dish you’ll be baking quiche in. Place one of the pieces of parchment paper on a wooden board or cutting board that’s at least as large the base of the pie dish.
6. After 30 minutes have passed, take out chilled dough from fridge and place it on the parchment paper on the board. Using a rolling pin, roll it into a circular shape till the dough is larger that the parchment paper. Lightly grease/butter the pie dish, transfer the parchment paper with the dough to the dish. Cover it with the rolled-out dough, the dough should cover the sides of the dish. Place the dish in the fridge to chill for another 30 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 350F.
8. When additional 30 minutes have passed, take out pie-dish with chilled dough from the fridge. Lightly prick dough with a fork, place the remaining second piece of parchment paper on the dough and put weights on it. You can add some beans to weigh down the dough. I place my heavy Le Creuset pot over the parchment paper as it’s almost large enough to cover the dough. Place the pie-dish with dough and weights in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
9. Remove pie crust from oven, leave the oven on. Let it cool for a few minutes.

Filling

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chicken, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, thyme. Cook, stirring, till evenly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon to a plate/bowl and let cool.
2. When cooled, pour out any accumulated liquid, and shred the chicken. Squeeze out 2 garlic cloves from cooled head of garlic and add to the chicken mix (save the rest for smearing on bread).
3. To the same pan add whole asparagus stems and cook for about 5 minutes until tender. Remove from pan. (Skip this step if you don’t want to decorate top of quiche with asparagus).
4. If the pan has browned, rinse off so you don’t get a burnt smell. Heat pan over medium heat, add 1.5 teaspoon of the garlic flavored olive oil (or regular olive oil if you’re not roasting garlic) and add to pan. Add leek, asparagus, shallot. If you want to save some leek slices for layering on top of the quiche gently cook a few slices and remove from heat, and continue cooking the rest, breaking up the remaining leek pieces with the back of the spoon. Cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Add baby spinach, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook till wilted. The mix should be dry. Turn off heat, taste for salt (add more if necessary). You’ll get about a little over 1 cup of cooked vegetables. Move the mix to a colander so any remaining liquid can drain out.
6. Add vegetable mix to the shredded chicken, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper, mix thoroughly.
7. Whisk together eggs, milk, heavy cream. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper, whisk again.
8. Thinly layer cheese over pie crust, add filling, layer with remaining cheese. Pour in egg, milk and cream mixture.
9. If you’re decorating the top of the quiche, place the asparagus, leek, cherry tomatoes as you want across the top.
10. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Quiche should be slightly wobbly (but not liquid) when done. Cool for about 15 minutes before serving.