Spinach Cremini Mushroom Quiche

One of my friends made quiche a few weeks ago, and it was really good, so it put me in the mood to try making quiche!  Walking through the grocery store, the cremini mushrooms caught my eye, so I decided to make a cremini and spinach quiche with Fontina cheese.  I was worried about the egg part, but it was actually the crust that gave me the most trouble.  So after two attempts, I recommend not trying to make the crust go up the sides of the baking dish (like a pie), but rather to just press the crust on bottom only.  The first time, I tried to have crust on the bottom and sides, but it just slid down the sides while baking and made a thick lump all the way around the edge- I'm not even sure that it was fully cooked because it was so thick.  The second time, I used a spatula to try pushing the sides up periodically while it was baking- still didn't work.  The third time, I gave up on the sides and just put the pie dough on the bottom and it worked wonderfully!

Ingredients

1 refrigerated pie crust dough (half of 15-ounce package)

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped fine

3 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 cups baby spinach

3 large eggs, plus 2 additional egg whites

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup whole milk

8 oz Fontina cheese, grated

Directions

1.  Press pie crust on the bottom of a deep 9 inch glass baking dish (trim edges if necessary).  Bake according to package instructions, until light brown.

2.  While the crust is baking, prepare the filling.  Melt butter in a large, heavy bottom skillet over med-high heat.  Add the onions and saute ~3 mins.  Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper, and nutmeg- cook for an additional 10 mins.  Add the spinach and cook for an additional 2 mins (spinach will wilt).   Let this filling cool completely (very important!).

3.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, half and half, and milk.  Stir in ~3/4 of the Fontina.  Stir in the mushroom-spinach filling.

4.  Pour the mixture into the pie crust.  Sprinkle the remaining Fontina on top.

5.  Bake at 325 F for ~1 hour (will turn a golden brown color).  Cool for at least half an hour.  Cut into desired size pieces and serve.