Chunks of salmon, fresh spinach and chopped dill all feature in this tasty Salmon and Spinach Quiche recipe, all encased in a crisp spelt flour wholemeal pastry case.
There are several reasons I just love this Salmon and Spinach Quiche and they are, in no particular order...
- It's a meal-in-one.
- Dead easy to make (swap out the pastry case for a bought one if you really want to simplify).
- Contains a variety of healthy flavour-packed ingredients, i.e. fish, veg and dairy.
- I just love the spelt flour pastry crust, it has bags of flavour and a nice crisp texture. See below for more info about how great spelt flour is.
- Easily feeds a family of 4-6.
- Can be eaten hot or cold.
- Great as a snack, a meal, for a buffet or a run down to the fridge in the middle of the night when you can't sleep!
Oh, and it just smells divine whilst cooking! I do love a kitchen that smells all warm and tasty and homely!
Quiche is a real go-to meal for me. I like cooking, but I prefer baking and Spinach and Salmon Quiche or Roasted vegetable quiche meet nicely in the middle.
Jump to:
Why make Ella's Better Bakes Salmon and Spinach Quiche?
Wholemeal spelt flour pastry has a lovely slightly nutty flavour which compliments the quiche filling, plus it is beautifully crisp✔️
Double cream gives a luxurious softness to the filling✔️
Gruyere cheese adds its unique nutty flavour to the mix along with a creamy texture✔️
Lots of protein and silkiness from 4 whole eggs✔️
Dill adds a slightly grassy flavour that compliments the spinach✔️
A little fried onion and garlic give depth to the flavours✔️
Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
- Spelt wholemeal flour
- Eggs
- Gruyere cheese
- Butter
- Cooked salmon
- Spinach
- Double (heavy) cream
- Garlic
- Onion
- Dill
Instructions
Brief instructions are noted below however please see the Recipe Card for more detail.
Spelt Wholegrain Flour Pastry Base
Add cold cubed butter to flour and salt and pulse in your food processor until sandlike (or rub the butter in by hand). Add cold water and pulse again until the pastry starts to clump in large lumps (or mix in using a fork).
On a lightly floured surface, bring the pastry together into a ball. Flatten it out into a circle and then roll it out to a diameter of 30 cm.
Drape the pastry over your rolling pin and then lay over the top of your buttered loose-bottomed flan dish.
Starting at the base and then moving up the sides of the pie dish push your pastry into the tin, this video shows you the method. Prick holes over the base and then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Take a large piece of greaseproof (parchment) paper big enough to fill the tin and cover the sides, crumple it up and place it in the tin, ensuring all of the pastry is covered.
Fill with baking beans and then bake for 20 minutes. Carefully tip out the hot baking beans and then bake the pie crust for a further 10 minutes until cooked and brown all over.
Salmon and Spinach Quiche Filling
Fry your chopped onion until golden as this adds lots of flavour. Add minced garlic and fry for a couple more minutes just to cook through. Spread over your baked pie case.
Flake your cooked salmon into roughly one-inch chunks and place over the fried onion and garlic.
Pour just boiled water over your spinach and then place it on some kitchen paper to soak up the excess water.
Scatter the spinach evenly over the salmon so that you have a thick good layer.
Lightly beat your eggs and then add to your cream with chopped dill and lightly beat together.
Scatter in two-thirds of your cheese and then pour over your egg mixture. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden all over and when you peel a little of the skin back from the middle, the centre does not look watery. The quiche should have a slight jiggle in the centre which will set as it cools.
Allow to set for about 20 minutes before serving.
Substitutions
If you don't have all of the ingredients listed for this Salmon and Spinach Quiche you can swap them out for the following:
Spelt flour - can be swapped with plain (all-purpose) flour for a white pastry base or with wholemeal flour for a more rustic brown pastry.
Double (heavy) cream - can be replaced with a mixture of single cream and whole milk, or simply whole milk alone. It will still taste great but not have quite such a thick, silky texture.
Fresh dill - can be replaced with dried dill. Add it along with the minced garlic, cooking it up a bit first will help to release the flavour and rehydrate it.
Gruyere cheese - can be replaced with strong cheddar cheese or Swiss cheese.
Variations
The great thing about this Salmon and Quiche recipe is that it can easily be customised with whatever ingredients you have to hand as pretty much anything goes. You'll need to cook your veg first though as really all we do is heat them through whilst the quiche bakes. Here are some examples:
Salmon and Broccoli Quiche: I recommend using 100 grams of tenderstem broccoli if you can because it is more flavoursome and less bulky. Cut the stems down so that there are equal stems to the broccoli heads and then steam for be 3-4 minutes until cooked. Spread over your cooked salmon instead of the spinach.
Salmon and Asparagus Quiche: use thin asparagus tips and cook for about ) minutes until cooked but still with a little bite left in them.
Storage
You will need to keep this Salmon and Spinach Quiche refrigerated and consume it within 3 days.
Your quiche is fine to be frozen and should be consumed within a month. I tend to freeze it in portions, then defrost one at a time as needed.
Top tips for perfect Salmon and Spinach Quiche
Pastry Case
- Use butter straight from the fridge, because it produces a flaky pastry and because it doesn't soak into the flour.
- Use ice-cold water and only add as much as it takes for the pastry to clump together.
- If your dough is overwet simply add some more flour.
- Do not over-mix stop as soon as the pastry starts to form large clumps and never knead it as this develops gluten in the flour and the baked pastry will be tough and hard.
- Always prick the case of the pastry case, this allows steam to escape whilst baking and prevents a soggy bottom!
- Chill your pastry once you've lined your tart tin this stabilises the pastry, resets the fat, ensures a flaky pastry and, most importantly, stops it from shrinking in the tin whilst baking.
Perfect Quiche Filling
- Fry your garlic for just a couple of minutes with your onion as overcooked garlic turns bitter.
- Pre-cook your salmon, this recipe explains how, I tend to roast mine uncovered for 15-20 minutes, leave it to cool and set for 10-15 minutes and then it will easily flake into large chunks.
- Pre-beat your eggs before beating them into your cream otherwise, your cream will over-thicken.
- Test the centre of the quiche by peeling back a little of the skin that has formed on the top in order to check if it is ready, if it is watery and runny pop it back into the oven for a few more minutes. It should look somewhere between runny and not 100% set and have a little wobble to it when ready. The quiche should be left for 20 minutes to fully set when it comes out of the oven (cook it too long and the egg becomes a bit rubbery).
- If there is a risk that your filling may overspill bake it on a baking sheet.
FAQ
Spelt flour is a good source of vitamins (in particular B vitamins) and minerals. It is not as processed as normal flour, which is why it retains more nutrients. Spelt flour is also easier to digest than normal flour as it contains less gluten and wheat, therefore great for those with a sensitivity to gluten. It also helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Gruyere is traditionally used in quiche because its nutty flavour which works well with eggs and cream also used in quiche recipes. Strong cheddar also works well as does Swiss cheese. Feta cheese works really well with quickes that feature tomatoes and olives.
Linked Recipes
Some other savoury recipes on Ella's Better Bakes that you may like to try...
Tasty Roasted vegetable quiche.
Pork and apple Shortcrust Pastry Sausage Rolls are a new recipe and have been very popular.
Or, for a savour biscuit snack, you may like to try my mom's famous Little Cheese and Ham Biscuit recipe.
📖 Recipe
Salmon and Spinach Quiche
Here's what you'll need...
- Food processor optional
- Baking beans
- Egg whisk or fork
Ingredients you'll need...
Wholemeal Spelt Pastry Case
- 240 g Spelt wholemeal flour (1 Cup and 11 tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt
- 120 g Unsalted butter straight from the fridge and cubed - plus extra for greasing the tin (½ Cup or 1 stick and 1 tablespoon)
- 6-8 tablespoon Ice cold water
Salmon and Spinach Quiche Filling
- Knob butter or a tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 Small brown onion finely chopped
- 1 Large garlic clove minced
- 250 g Cooked salmon 2 standard pack of salmon fillets cooked
- 100 g Fresh spinach (2 handfuls)
- 4 Large eggs
- 260 ml Double (heavy) cream
- 1 teaspoon Fresh dill finely chopped
- 100 g Gruyere cheese grated (1 level Cup)
- Sea salt flakes and pepper
Here's what we do...
Spelt Wholegrain Pastry Case
- Heat your oven to 180°C /160°C fan/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Grease your loose-bottomed tart tin, making sure you get into the fluted edges.
- Cut a large square of greaseproof (parchment) paper big enough to cover the base and sides of your tart tin once crumpled up.
- Add your flour and salt to your food processor (fitted with the blade attachment) and whizz for a few seconds until combined. Or mix by hand in a large bowl if not using a processor.
- Blob your cubed cold butter over the surface of the flour and pulse until the mixture resembles sand (my processor takes about 20 pulses to achieve this). If not using a processor, rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips.
- Add 4 level tablespoons of ice-cold water and pulse again. If the mixture does not easily form large clumps and some flour remains, add another 1-2 tablespoons (I usually need to add 6 to get to the right consistency). If doing this by hand, add the water and mix it in with a fork.
- Lightly flour your work surface and tip your pastry mixture out onto it.
- Bring the pastry together into a ball but do not knead it. Flatten it out into a circle then roll it out to a diameter of 30-32 cm.
- Drape your pastry over your rolling pin and then lay it across your greased tin.
- Hold the edge of your pastry vertically with one hand and with the other gently press it into the base of the tin. Once the base is covered gently press into the fluted sides. This video demonstrates a useful method.
- The pastry needs to come up about 1cm above the edge of the side of the tin to allow it the capacity to shrink down a little whilst baking.
- If your dough tears a little just use some spare dough to patch it up, use a little water if you need to in order to stick the patch on. Keep the spare dough in the fridge just in case you need to patch it up once baked.
- Prick your pastry all over the base with a fork and then refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.
- Crumple your large piece of greaseproof paper and then place it into the tin so that it covers both the base and sides and then fill with baking beans.
- Bake in the centre of your oven for 20 minutes and then carefully tip out your baking beans and remove the paper.
- Place the pastry case back into your oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden all over.
Salmon and Spinach Quiche Filling
- Fry your finely chopped onion in your knob of butter or olive oil over a medium-high heat. Keep moving it about until the edges just start to brown.
- Add your minced garlic and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
- Scatter evenly over the base of your baked pie case.
- Flake your cooked salmon into chunks of about an inch and scatter over the onion in the pie case.
- Wash your spinach and remove the stalks, pour over about 200ml of just boiled water to blanch it and then spread the spinach out onto a piece of kitchen paper to dry off, pat the top dry.
- Scatter the spinach over the cooked salmon.
- Beat your eggs together lightly and then add to your double (heavy) cream along with your chopped dill and briefly beat together to combine. season with about half a teaspoon of sea salt flakes and about 4 grinds of pepper.
- Sprinkle roughly two-thirds of your grated cheese over the spinach and then pour over your egg and mixture.
- Sprinkle over the rest of your grated cheese.
- Bake in the centre of your oven for 35-40 minutes or until your quiche is golden on top and no longer liquidy in the middle but it still has a slight wobble in the centre.
- Leave to cool and set for 20 minutes and then serve along with a fresh salad and some boiled new potatoes doused in butter and sprinkled with some chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Supporting Notes
-
- Use butter straight from the fridge, because it produces a flaky pastry and because it doesn't soak into the flour.
-
- Use ice-cold water and only add as much as it takes for the pastry to clump together.
-
- If your dough is overwet simply add some more flour.
-
- Do not over-mix stop as soon as the pastry starts to form large clumps and never knead it as this develops gluten in the flour and the baked pastry will be tough and hard.
-
- Always prick the case of the pastry case, this allows steam to escape whilst baking and prevents a soggy bottom!
-
- Chill your pastry once you've lined your tart tin this stabilises the pastry, resets the fat, ensures a flaky pastry and, most importantly, stops it from shrinking in the tin whilst baking.
- Fry your garlic for just a couple of minutes with your onion as overcooked garlic turns bitter.
- Pre-cook your salmon, this recipe explains how, I tend to roast mine uncovered for 15-20 minutes, leave it to cool and set for 10-15 minutes and then it will easily flake into large chunks.
- Pre-beat your eggs before beating them into your cream otherwise, your cream will over-thicken.
- Test the centre of the quiche by peeling back a little of the skin that has formed on the top in order to check if it is ready, if it is watery and runny pop it back into the oven for a few more minutes. It should look somewhere between runny and not 100% set and have a little wobble to it when ready. The quiche should be left for 20 minutes to fully set when it comes out of the oven (cook it too long and the egg becomes a bit rubbery).
- If there is a risk that your filling may overspill bake it on a baking sheet.
Comments
No Comments