Working my way through the few cookbooks I own, last week, I tried a recipe for dinner that I realized would actually be a perfect savory option to serve for brunch. For some reason, I have avoided some recipes thinking would take too much time or use too many complicated ingredients, but this recipe took a lot less time and effort than I expected. Using frozen puff pastry sheets was helpful.

Since it’s quite rich and creamy, I’m still trying to figure out a way to make this healthier, though that may be a futile task with something like a quiche. At the very least this recipe is full of the beautifying components of spinach and leeks, which contain cell-regenerating and defending glutathione. 

I’ve only ever cooked with leeks once before — a few years ago— so I had to remind myself how to clean and slice them. 

Modifications

The original recipe calls for heavy cream and doesn’t include any cheese, but since we personally don’t care for the eggy flavor of quiche, I added gorgonzola and a shredded Italian cheese blend to this recipe which made it quite rich and more savory. I didn’t use thyme; instead I added many other dried spices to the cream mix, such as Italian seasoning, oregano, rosemary and of course, for my tastes, crushed red pepper for an extra kick.

Suggestions

I suggest for an alternative that’s slightly less sinful, you could use whole milk, coconut cream or fat-free half and half instead of heavy cream, and you could forego the cheese altogether if you’d like, but keep in mind, when you’re making something like this, you’re primarily going for taste and not for touting its health benefits.

Leek and Spinach Pie 

Recipe from: Vegetarian: 100 Everyday Recipes by Parragon Books

Ingredients

• 8 oz puff pastry
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 leeks, sliced finely
• 8 oz spinach, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 10 fl oz heavy cream (or coconut cream, fat-free half and half, or whole milk)
• pinch of dried thyme (or any other spices of your choice such as rosemary, oregano)
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Roll the pastry sheet into a rectangle about 10 x 12 inches. let rest for 5 mins, then press into an 8 x 10 quiche pan/baking dish. Do not trim the overhang. Cover the pastry with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, stir, and cook gently for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes or until soft. Let cool.
4. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Stir in the cream and season with your spices of choice. remove the pie shell from the refrigerator and uncover. Spread the cooked vegetables over the bottom. Pour in the egg mixture.
5. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before removing serving.