Onion, Anchovy & Spinach Quiche

One of my most favourite pasta dishes is onion and anchovy spaghetti. It's so beautifully simple; onions, sweated down until almost a mush for 45 minutes, and then milk-soaked tinned anchovy fillets added until broken down and emulsified with a little of the milk to make a sauce. A liberal handful of parsley and lots of black pepper complete the dish. It's extremely moreish and I eat it at least once every two weeks.

In a fit of experimentation, I thought that this would be quite fitting for a quiche filling, as anchovy goes well with eggs (as I've recently discovered with soft boiled eggs and anchovy soliders). My fridge was teeming with vibrant green, sturdy and leafy bundles of spinach I'd picked up from the market; none of this shrinking, watery stuff so this also went in. For my first attempt at quiche, I thought it was a really good effort. The filling wasn't overly eggy and was baked until just set so it stayed soft and creamy. The subtle anchovy flavour was complimented with the iron-rich spinach and the sweet onions.

Onion, Anchovy & Spinach Quiche

Serves 6

For the filling:

3 large white onions, sliced finely
6 anchovy fillets
A large handful of choppedflat leaf parsley
2 generous handfuls of spinach
2 eggs
285ml double cream
Plenty of black pepper
Parmesan (optional)

For the pastry:

280gr plain flour
140gr very cold butter, cut into cubes

Heat some oil in a non stick frying pan and add the onions. Fry on a low eat, stirring occasionally until they become very soft. This will take about half an hour - 45 minutes. Chop the anchovies up and add to the onions, frying them until they dissolve a little. Then add the spinach andfry until wilted. There shouldn't be too much moisture in the pan. Set to one side.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius. To make the pastry, tip the flour and butter into a bowl, then rub together with your fingertips until completely mixed and crumbly. Add 8 tbsp cold water, then bring everything together with your hands until just combined. Roll into a ball, dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out to about 5cm bigger than your quiche case (mine was 25cm). Pick it up by rolling it over the rolling pin and lay into your case. Using a ball of scrap pastry, gently push the pastry into the grooves of the tin. Prick the base with a fork, then lay a greaseproof sheet of paper over it and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for at least 25 - 30 minutes.

Next, whisk the eggs and cream together and then add to the onion mixture and the parsley. Add a touch of salt and lots of black pepper and mix together thoroughly. Add this to the quiche case, top with some grated Parmesan, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden and set. Leave to cool in the case, trim the edges of the pastry and eat warm or cold - I preferred it warm.