We had this for dinner on St. Patrick’s day, and, I swear to god, I didn’t know it would be so green! It was not a calculated move! As it happens, green is my favorite color, so I’m exceedingly pleased that it turned out so green. I can’t really think of anything interesting to say about asparagus quiche at the moment, so I’ll just relate a few salient points. Firstly, I made this in an hour. One hour, start to finish! As it happens, I had some crust dough leftover, but even if you added dough-making time, it would still be, maybe, one hour 10 minutes. So it seems quite fancy (doesn’t it?) but it’s quick and easy. Second-of-all, I think it’s very pretty (and green). So it makes a nice spring-y meal. Even for a special day like Easter, I’d say. It’s flavored with a little basil and rosemary. And with nutmeg, because nutmeg belongs in a spinach quiche! I added some goat cheese, for freshness and tang. And now I’ll stop talking about it, or I’ll have gone on longer describing it than it takes to make it!

Here’s Nutmeg, by Art Pepper

1/2 batch paté brisée. I ground lots of black pepper into the flour before I mixed it all together.

1/2 of a large bunch of asparagus (about 1 1/2 cups, when it’s all cut up)
2 cups spinach, washed and dried and roughly chopped
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic – minced
1 t. rosemary
1 t. basil
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper

Roll out the dough to be just larger than the pie plate. Press it neatly onto the plate, and crimp the edges, or just leave them “rustic.” Prebake at 425 for about 5 minutes, till it’s lost it’s raw shininess.

Fill a small frying pan with about 1/2 an inch of water and bring it to a boil. Trim the woody base of the asparagus and discard it. Chop off the pretty tip of the asparagus, plus about 1 inch, and set those aside. Drop the middle part into the boiling water, cover and let simmer for a while – longer than you would if you were just going to eat the asparagus. You want it to be quite soft. Maybe 15 minutes. Take the stalks out and leave them to drain. Add the tips. Cover, turn the heat off, and leave them for a couple minutes, till they’re bright green.

In a large frying fan over medium heat. Warm the olive oil. Add the garlic, rosemary and basil. Add the spinach, and cook till it’s wilted. You can add a tablespoon or two of water if you need to, but make sure the pan is quite dry in the end.

Combine the spinach, asparagus stems, goat cheese, milk and eggs in a blender. Blend until fairly smooth. Add a pinch of nutmeg and stir in the grated cheese, salt and pepper.

Pour into the pre baked crust. Arrange the asparagus tips in a pretty pattern over the top.

Bake in the 425 degree oven for about 1/2 hour, till it’s puffed up and starting to brown on the edges. It won’t stay puffed up, so be sure to show everybody how nice it looks while it is!