Mediterranean Quiche – on the cheap $$

Knowing how to cook a good quiche is like owning a good little black dress. You can whip up a good outfit in less than an hour and look impressive and stylish doing it, and no one will know it only took a short time to look so good.

There are also negatives associated with the quiche as well as the little black dress – cost. When most people hear quiche it sounds expensive and time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Yes, good ingredients could cost you well over $20, but like that little black dress that fits perfectly that we’ve all found on the clearance rack, a quiche can be a bargain and impressive addition to your repertoire. I cook mine for work breakfasts and when people are coming over.

The original recipe I found for this recipe and have cooked for this recipe requires sun-dried tomatoes easily $5, feta cheese another $5, fresh basil $3, eggs and pie crust, the basics are cheap, but the filling is a wallet buster for a teacher/grad student. So, with a few modifications I waited for the good sale and found a way to make a cheaper alternative work.

The major savings are here: sub out the sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil for sun-dried tomato and basil pesto, you’ve gone from $10 to $1.09.

Originally, I did plan on buying fresh basil, I killed my little basil plant over the summer, but the basil selection was looking funky, and I’m not paying $3-$5 for a small amount of basil that is black and moldy for the few leaves that are still usable. So, I found the pesto and decided on spinach to add the green and vegetable component to the dish.

So, in total the grocery bill goes from around $20 to about $10, and you won’t use the whole package of eggs, or both of the pie crusts, so those are an investment in your groceries in general.
The best part about this recipe is the leftovers, and the leftover ingredients that you’ll have when you’re done. I used a package for frozen spinach and had about ¼ of the package left; I also had about ¾ of the jar of the pesto left, and about ½ of the feta. So, I’m going to add it to some noodles tomorrow for some lunch.

Here’s the recipe:

Mediterranean (Cheap) Quiche – just keep the cheap part only for your good girlfriends, the only one’s you’d tell that the cute dress everyone is swooning over was a clearance bargain.

1 frozen pie crust (not graham cracker – speaking from experience it makes for a weird quiche - whoops!)
5 eggs
1 package frozen spinach – thawed according to package (or a bunch of spinach rinsed and leaves rough chopped - no stems please!)
1 small jar sun-dried tomato and basil pesto (about 4 teaspoons from the jar)
1 package feta cheese (about ½ of the package)
2 cloves garlic
Paprika
Salt
Pepper


Pre-heat oven to 350

Pre-bake pie crust according to package; this usually involves poking the crust with a fork and baking for around 10 minutes or putting dried beans in the pie crust and baking. I go for the fork pokes, as I don’t want to waste perfectly good beans – those are for the crock pot.

In small sauce pan combine vegetable oil, spinach, garlic and spices, as much as you’d like for your taste. I actually don’t do the salt, the husband has high cholesterol, and he hasn’t noticed the fact that he hasn’t eaten anything with salt for over a month, so don’t tell. Also, feta is pretty salty itself, so go easy on it. Cook the mixture for a few minutes, this is just to combine the flavors, wilt the spinach and cook the garlic a bit.

Beat 6 eggs, once beaten add about 1/4 the jar of pesto (about 4 teaspoons) and combine. You may want to use a hand mixer for this to make sure the ingredients come together.

In the pre-baked pie crust add the spinach mixture and the feta in a nice thick layer, spreading everything evenly. You probably won’t use the whole feta package – make it as cheesy as you’d like.

It should look like this:

Pour the egg / pesto mixture into the crust covering all of the ingredients.

Bake for 25-35 minutes in oven. To check for doneness do the same as with baked goods. Stick a knife in it and open it up a little if it looks firm with no watery goo it is done. You can also shake it, if it looks firm throughout it is done.

Take it out and let cool for around 5 minutes.

Impress your friends! And savor in the wonderful flavors, bargain shopping experience and the fact that everyone is impressed that you made “French food”!