Potato and spinach quiche

I'm back, as per usual I don't have a good reason for being away from such a long time.

I found the recipe for this quiche well over a year ago on the back of the bag that the potatoes came in. I scribbled it down and put it in my recipe folder thinking I'd get around to trying it out sometime soon. This was not the case, I forgot all about the recipe and only came across it again a few days ago when I was rummaging through the recipe folder looking for inspiration for dinner. Next time I make it I'm going to add in some feta cheese for a little extra flavour!

Potato and spinach quiche
Serves 4

Crust:
150 g butter
3 dl flour
2-2½ tbsp ice cold water

Filling:
300 g boiled, cold potatoes
200 g baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 red onion, cut into thin rings
50 g sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
4 eggs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 dl heavy cream
1 tbsp dill, chopped
salt & pepper

Set your oven to 200° C.
1. Start by making the crust. In a food processor, combine flour and butter. When crumbly, add in a little water at a time until the mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic film and place in the fridge to chill for about 1 hr. When chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and line a springform pan, letting the pastry come up around the edges about 5 cm. With some aluminum foil, cover the edges so when you bake it the edges will not collapse. Pre-bake the crust for 10 mins.

2. While the pastry is chilling in the fridge, prepare the filling. Cut the potatoes into slices and then cut the slices in half. Mix with the spinach, red onion and the sun-dried tomatoes. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs, add the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, dill and salt & pepper, whisk to combine.

3. Place the dry filling in the now pre-baked crust, and pour in the egg mixture.

4. Bake the pie at (the recipe says 170° C but I had to use 200 ° and my oven is only about 3 years old- I say, if it doesn't set at 170° C up the temp to 200° C) 170° C for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Salmon log with chives

This is another "dish" I made for Easter. I served it on a piece of Swedish "knäckebröd". It's a great hors d'oeuvre and goes well with a glass of white wine.

Salmon log with chives

250 g cream cheese
2 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 spring onions, finely chopped
420 g cooked salmon/smoked salmon
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
40 g pecan nuts, finely chopped
20 g chives, finely chopped
80 g dill, finely chopped

1. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and lemon juice to a fine paste. Mix in the spring onions, salmon, black pepper, pecans and chives. Allow to rest in the fridge for atleast 2 hours to ensure the mixture is firm when you move on to the next step.

2. Put the mix onto some cling film and roll into a firm log shape. Allow to cool once more and then roll the log in the chopped dill.

Slice and serve ontop of savoury crackers or "knäckebröd".
Will freeze well for a couple of days, maybe 1 week.

Smoked salmon and spinach tart

Ok, it's time for my first recipe. It's one of my favourite "new" recipes. The last time I made this tart was for Easter and everyone, me and my boyfriend, loved it. However, I couldn't find any spinach at the supermarket so had to improvise and ended up using broccoli instead. (My boyfriend actually prefered it with broccoli, so I guess that'll be what I'll be making from now on).

Smoked salmon and spinach/broccoli tart

Pastry

3 dl all-purpose flour
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

125 g unsalted butter or margarine

2- 2½ tbsp cold water

Filling

1 small leek

100 g fresh spinach, or frozen broccoli

100 g smoked salmon

1 dl grated cheese

2 eggs

1 dl heavy cream

2 pinches salt

3 pinches lemon-infused ground black pepper

Heat oven to 200 C.

1.Mix flour, Parmesan cheese and butter so that it looks like crumble. Add water, a little at a time, and make a dough. Set to rest, covered with a damp cloth, for 30 min. Press the chilled dough into a round, loose-bottomed mould (23-24 cm), letting the pastry come up around the edges about 5 cm.. With some aluminum foil, cover the edges so when you bake it the edges will not collapse. Prebake the pastry for 10 mins.

2.Clean and chop the leek. Put some oil in a pan, heat and steam the leeks for a few minutes allowing them to get soft. Roughly chop the spinach, if you are using frozen broccoli cut the florets lengthways, add to the pan allowing the spinach to wilt or the broccoli to heat. Pour out on a plate to chill.

3. Cut the salmon into strips and mix with the spinach/broccoli.

4. Combine eggs, cream, salt and lemon-infused pepper in a bowl. Add the grated cheese and the spinach-salmon mix.

5. Pour the mixture into the prebaked pastry, be sure to remove the tin foil first!

6. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 35-40 minutes. The tart should be firm to the touch when done.

Serve with a fresh salad.

Can be served hot or cold, and is excellent to freeze for up to 3 months.