Easy Sausage and Spinach Quiche Is a Satisfying Meal Any Time of Day

My family loves bacon and cheese quiche. The smell of it baking in the oven draws everyone into the kitchen. Early quiche recipes were like the one I make, crumbled bacon and Swiss cheese baked in a pie crust. As the years passed onions were added to the original recipe, a version called Quiche Alsacienne. Today, cooks are making ham, shrimp, vegetarian, and other variations of quiche.

Leftovers can influence the kind of pie you make. If you have mushrooms on hand, you can slice them thinly, saute them in a little butter, and add them to the custard mixture. Corn and bacon are a tasty combination and one that kids like. Cut into small wedges, quiche is a yummy appetizer. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The other day I made a sausage and spinach version because I had sausage and spinach on hand.

The combination of sausage, egg custard, and Swiss cheese was a winner. No doubt about it, quiche is a labor-intensive dish and to reduce the preparation time I used a refrigerated pie crust. Kids that like sausage will like this recipe. Before you make it I have some suggestions for you.
Though you're tempted to substitute another cheese for the Swiss don't do it. Avoid pre-shredded cheese because it has a coating on it to prevent it from clumping, and the cheese may not melt completely. I used my favorite brand of sausage, a brand that has less fat. You may wish to do this, too. Refrigerated pie crusts come two to a package and you can make two recipes, one for now, and one to freeze for later use, if you wish.

This is my original recipe for Easy Sausage and Spinach Quiche.

Ingredients
1 package refrigerated pie crusts
12-ounce roll Jimmy Dean reduced fat sausage
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon reduced sodium salt
Pinch nutmeg
Pepper to taste
1 1/4 cups freshly shredded Swiss cheese

Method
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove one pie crust from the package and fit it into a 10-inch quiche pan or pie plate. Cut the roll of sausage in half and refrigerate the second half. Crumble sausage into a skillet and cook until done. Sprinkle cooked sausage over pie crust. Put the thawed spinach in a strainer press with your hand to remove all moisture. Transfer spinach to a plate and pat with a paper towel. Sprinkle the spinach over the sausage. Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the sausage-spinach mixture. In a large bowl whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings together. Pour custard over quiche ingredients. Set the pan on a jelly roll pan. Bake for 45 minutes, until the edges of the crust and the top are a golden brown. Remove from oven and set on a trivet for 15 minutes to cool. Cut into wedges and serve with fresh fruit cup or a green salad. Add some crusty bread and you have a meal. Makes 6 generous servings.