Sheet pan spinach quiche

I’ve made this a sheet pan quiche a bit over the last few weeks, it’s great for picnics at the beach, potluck luncheons or cut into small slices for party finger food. It’s dense with spinach so you feel like your getting a decent quota of greens, and because I use both frozen spinach and frozen pastry, it’s super quick and easy. If you want to go the more labor intensive route you could make your own pastry and par-bake it before filling it as Deb Perelman does here but seriously it’s summer in Australia and who has the time or energy to get that fancy.

This is something you can bung in the oven in the morning and keep in the pan for portability when you’re going places. Although I’ve encountered one recalcitrant seven-year-old who wouldn’t touch it, in general, kids seem to love it. This is a very forgiving recipe. The original recipe calls for a 22x 33cm sheet pan but I used a slightly smaller 30x 20 cm pan and it worked fine with the slightly thicker filling. I’ve also added extra cream and eggs to stretch the filling and make an smaller quiche to go alongside the big quiche and that worked fine too. And yes, you can use different cheeses (feta is very good!) making it an excellent user upper of leftover cheese (always a problem) in the days and weeks after Christmas and New Years excess.  Leftover dill and other herbs can be thrown in, so you can clean out your fridge before you go away and freeze any leftovers  for when you come back from holidays. Parties, picnics or a quick mid-week meal this is a brilliant recipe to have in your repertoire.

Sheet pan spinach quiche

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Bon Appetit

• 2×3 sheets of puff pastry ( depending on size of pan)
• 3/4 cup (170 grams) cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup (150 mls) half milk and half cream
• 6 large eggs (If eggs are small add two extra eggs)
• 2x 250 gram packets packages of frozen spinach (thawed)
• 1 cup (120 grams) grated cheddar, gruyere or crumbled feta
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) finely grated Parmesan
• 1 small bundle ( about 8 thin green onions) finely sliced (red onion works too! About a cup finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
• a handful of parsley or dill, finely chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan forced or 425F)
2. Lightly grease a 22x 33cm (9×13 inch) pan and line bottom with baking paper
3. Line pan with pastry, cutting pastry and pressing edges together  to line pan completely and press pastry into pan. Let pastry rest in fridge while you prepare the filling.
4. Use a hand beater or a wooden spoon and whisk to beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add milk and cream and beat in until combined. Then add eggs two at a time and whisk through until smooth. Squeeze out spinach in a fine sieve and get as much liquid out as possible. Stir through onion, cheese, spinach and salt and pepper through egg mixture.
5. Trim pastry and pour in filling. Level filling and bake in oven for about 25-30 minutes until filling is set and pastry is golden. Let sit 10 minutes until cutting and serving. Cooked quiche can be kept in the refrigerator for 4-5 days and reheated.