Spinach Ricotta Quiche With Caramelized Squash

This spinach ricotta quiche is healthier than a regular quiche, ricotta is used instead of cream and the caramelized butternut squash adds a lean sweet fluffy texture without the extra fat. All these ingredients together make the lightest and delicious hearty Autumn meal.

Jump to:

• Why ricotta quiche is healthier
• When to make this Quiche
• Vegetable with long shelf life
• Preparing the filling for the quiche
• Preparing the filling
• Making the pastry base
• Making the quiche
• How to make a crispy base
• What to serve with this quiche
• More Pie Ideas
• 📋 Spinach Ricotta Quiche

Why ricotta quiche is healthier

Ricotta is a cheese made by re-cooking (ri-cotta in Italian) the serum, called whey, that is left over after the milk has been curdled to make cheese.

Therefore ricotta is a cheese with low-fat content. Usually made from cow's milk, it can also be made from sheep or goat's milk.

When to make this Quiche

The creamy low fat ricotta cheese softens the tang from the spinach, while the roasted bacon and the caramelized butternut squash add a comforting salty-sweet sensation to each bite.

Even the colors of this pie bring warmth to a cold Autumn day, which this year has not been cold at all. 

I usually prepare all the different ingredients on Sunday morning before we go for walks or work in the garden.

When we are back ready for dinner, I just have to put it all together and bake it.

It can also be a backup dish for a dinner party, the crust is nice and crunchy and it can be easily removed from the baking pan and presented in a fancy serving dish.

If you need a vegetarian dish to serve, you can leave out the bacon without compromising its complex flavor.

Its beautiful color combination and its delicate flavor will delight your guests' eyes and palates.

Vegetable with long shelf life

What I like about this recipe is that all the vegetables have a long shelf-life, I can store them for weeks and can make this quiche anytime. 

In Autumn I often buy a butternut squash and keep it as a backup in the pantry where I store my onions, I can always count on a frozen bag of spinach.

If I don't have any fresh vegetables left in the fridge and I don't have time to go to the Supermarket, I make this quiche and have a delicious, healthy and perfectly balanced meal.

To find out more on how I plan my weekly meals you can read the article: A Family Meal Planner Based On Fresh Vegetables

Preparing the filling for the quiche

Caramelized squash

• Butternuts squash: you need a small butternut squash or just half of a medium size. You can replace it with pumpkin or sweet potatoes. As I find it hard to peel it, I cut it in large chunks and peel it once the squash is cooked. It is so much easier.
• Garlic and Provencal herbs: I use them to caramellize the butternut squash, they add depth to the squash sweetness
• Olive oil to make it crisp

Frozen vs fresh spinach

In this recipe I use frozen spinach, I always keep a bag in the freezer.

I found spinach one of the few vegetables that freeze well and frankly I hate rinsing fresh spinach.

They are always full of sand that takes forever to remove as it goes inside the hollow stem.

Especially in Autumn, I don't fancy keeping my hands in cold water for ages.

Plus, after washing all those spinach, you are left with hardly half a cup.

You can use fresh spinach if you still wish.

If you use fresh spinach you do not need to cook them and you can add them at the last minute.

However, make sure they do not release too much water otherwise the crust will get soggy.

If you use frozen spinach, make sure all the ice is evaporated and there is no residual water left.

Crispy bacon and cheese

Crispy bacon: I like to crisp the bacon with the onion before adding it to the quiche.

Red onion has a sweeter flavor, and its purple color adds a nice effect to the green of the spinach and the orange of the butternut squash. Although, you can use a regular onion as well.

Butter gives a nutty flavor to the spinach.

Ricotta: is added at the end once the squash and the spinach are at room temperature. You can use any type of ricotta: cow, goat or sheep's milk. Ricotta made with cow's milk has a milder flavor.

Gruyere cheese: it adds a nutty flavor and a cheesy consistency to the quiche

Eggs: the eggs hold the filling together

For a healthier or vegetarian quiche, you can omit the bacon and/or the Gruyere cheese

Preparing the filling

First Caramelize the butternut squash

1. Cut the butternut squash into chunks and season with  Provencal herbs and salt, plenty of garlic, and olive oil to crisp it.
2. Cook in the oven 390 F - 200 C for 40 minutes until it caramelizes
3. Let it cool down and remove the skin

4. Separately stir-fry the onion and the bacon with butter. Once crispy, add the spinach and make sure all the water drys out. Season with salt.
5. Let all the ingredients cool down at room temperature.

Making the pastry base

I always make the shortcrust pastry from scratch, but if you don't have time you can buy the prepared one.

The ingredients are:

• 1 ½ cup - 200 gr of flour
• ½ cup - 100 gr of butter at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoon of water

This quantity is enough for a 9 ½ in - 24 cm baking pan. I use a pan with removable bottom as I like to serve it in a proper serving dish.

1. Mix all ingredients in the mixer.
2. Wrap the dough with cling foil and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the butter re-solidifies.
3. Roll into the size of the pan plus the edges
4. Butter and cover the bottom of the baking tin with removable bottom with baking paper
5. Lay the short pastry over the pan and pierce it with a fork so it will not raise while cooking
6. Put it back in the fridge for at least 15 minutes while the oven is warming up to 355 F - 180C temperature

Making the quiche

1. Take the pastry out of the fridge
2. Add the filling inside the cold pastry and spread uniformly
3. Bake for 35 minutes at 355 F - 180 C
4. Let it rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the baking pan and serve it

How to make a crispy base

• Make sure the spinach does not retain any water. Especially if you are using frozen spinach, let all the water evaporate.
• Keep the short pastry in the fridge until you are ready to fill it and bake it. The cold butter in the pastry will prevent the crust from going soggy.
• Pierce the pastry with a fork so it doesn't rise while baking
• You do not need to prebake you pastry, make sure the oven is hot at 355 F - 180 C when you bake the quiche

What to serve with this quiche

This quiche is a complete meal in itself, with plenty of vegetables, proteins, and carbs.

If we are having it for a family dinner I just serve a simple fresh green salad seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and salt.

If the boys are very hungry I make these easy bake microwave potatoes, it only takes 30 minutes and they bake with the quiche.

For a formal dinner party, I make this quiche if I have vegetarian guests, I just leave out the bacon.

For the non-vegetarian, this spinach quiche is a rich side dish, so I keep the meat serving very light.

A crown roast of lamb is a good main course to serve with this quiche as the meat portions are very small.

Delicious and gorgeous, this caramelized butternut squash, ricotta spinach bacon quiche is difficult to resist!

More Pie Ideas

Here are more pie recipes:

• Beef Pie With Marsala Sauce And Mushrooms
• Chicken and Mushroom Pie Recipe
• Chelsea Market Heidi Pie With French Chevre
• Zucchini Mushroom Quiche Recipe
• Beef Sausage Hand Pie Recipe

More recipes with squash you may like

• Roast Pumpkin Soup
• Roasted butternut squash mash
• Pumpkin gnocchi

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