Mediterranean Quiche Duo with Cucumber-Chickpea Salad

When I was a kid, my Grandma kept a small pie pan in her kitchen for me to use whenever we baked together. We’d always make one big pie for the family, and I’d get to make my own little mini pie that would go in the oven alongside the “regular” one.

Now that I have a son, he loves cooking and baking with me! He absolutely loves trying new things in the kitchen, so I told him that it was time for him to learn to make quiche.

So he grabbed his apron and step stool and we got to work. First came the crusts. We made one big batch of dough and cut 1/3 of it off for him to roll out for his own mini quiche.

He was stoked to learn how to use the pastry cutter! And he really got a kick of the fact that we keep an ice cube in the bowl of water to keep it nice and cold as we’re making the crust.

When I was a kid, my aunt had a mat that had different-sized circles that helped you see how large you needed to roll out the pie crust.

My son loved seeing how big his pie pan was, then figuring out how large we needed to roll the dough so it would fit properly.

I let him do his thing until it was just the right size, then we folded it into quarters to transfer it to the pie plate.

Using a fork to decorate the crust and prick the bottom was definitely one of his favorite parts.

I had him crack the eggs for me, then he kept himself entertained off to the side making pretend recipes with all the scraps of ingredients that were hanging around on the countertop.

The filling for this quiche is simple but it packs a ton of flavor. I sautéed garlic, shallots and spinach with some freshly grated nutmeg until it wilted down nicely.

While it was cooling off, I whisked the eggs and milk together and added in the Parmesan. I did a layer of spinach and sun-dried tomatoes on the bottom of each crust, then poured the egg mixture over top.

A few grinds of black pepper on top and they were ready for the oven.

These beauties baked up in about 45 minutes. They need to cool a bit before you slice into them to make sure the slices hold their shapes.

The sweetness from the sun-dried tomatoes goes so well with the spinach. It was a huge hit at our brunch!

The crust was nice and tender and flaky. I’ve been a fan of Bob’s Red Mill for a long time now, and their flours really are a notch above many other brands that I’ve tried in the past. For this recipe, I used their Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour.

This type of flour is so versatile – it’s a pantry staple. I use it for everything including cookies, cakes, pies, scones, breads, rolls and biscuits. When shopping, I prefer to buy unbleached flour – this means that the flour is bleached naturally as it ages, as opposed to using chemical agents to speed the process along.

It’s the same high protein flour used by professional bakers and it produces high, well-textured loaves of bread just as well as it produces light, airy baked goods. And it was great in these crusts!

To go alongside, I made a quick salad of cucumber, chickpeas, goat milk feta from a local farm, and fresh herbs.

I put it together while the quiches were in the oven, and it was the perfect side dish to round out the meal.

These are both recipes I’ll be making again and again.

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.