A Simple Tarte aux Epinards

I usually spend the summer in France, visiting my extended family--something I am truly missing this year as the summer goes by. Although I can't complain about the enjoyable summer I am currently having, it is hard to think that I won't see my family for another full year (at least). I have a cousin my age who lives there, Kim. She is kind of like the sister I never had, and one of my best friends.

Our summer days used to consist of waking up late, sitting around being lazy and going to the beach. Something we both have in common is that we are always hungry...or should I say, we are often in the mood to eat (whether hunger is present or not)! Being that we weren't too dedicated to making full blown meals, we had a small arsenal of easy, satisfying and delicious recipes we made over and over.

One of them is this tarte aux epinards, which is a savory spinach tart with goat cheese and lardons (I have yet to find lardons here so I usually just use bacon or diced pancetta), a recipe I found in a magazine and now make from memory (so I don't have any of the exact amounts for the ingredients). We used ready-made crust for the tarte, and this pie crust from Trader Joe's here is a good alternative to the frozen pate brisee they sell in French supermarkets. One day this summer maybe I will make my own from scratch. But for now, this lonely pie crust sitting in the refrigerator needs to get used up!

I let the dough thaw for about an hour and then laid it inside this tarte mold. I poked holes at the bottom with a fork to prevent  it from bubbling up. I don't know if that's necessary, it's just something we always did with Kim, as per the instructions on the frozen pate brisee.

Then I poured my mountain of frozen spinach into the pan. Seriously, it was like watching an iceberg melt! Spinach is so misleading though--it always shrinks so much after it's cooked. I added just a little bit of creme fraiche to the spinach:

 

Instead of using bacon I substituted for turkey bacon since my dad doesn't eat pork. In any case, for this recipe, it doesn't really  matter--the point is to blend in some of the smoky flavor with the creamy cheesiness of the rest of the tarte. In another variant of this recipe I've also used smoked salmon. After the turkey bacon and spinach were cooked I set them aside.

 

I mixed three eggs with some more creme fraiche, salt and pepper. The recipe normally calls for just liquid heavy cream but I personally prefer the taste of the creme fraiche! I stirred until I got a nice, smooth, yellow mixture.

I rounded up the ingredients and put everything together: first the spinach, then the bacon, poured in the egg mixture and then added big chunks of goat cheese on top. In France we usually use what is called a buche (a log) of goat cheese which has a white crust like you would find on brie. The inside is a mix between a soft creamy goat cheese and a crumbly goat cheese center. It's perfect for this tart because when sliced up into circles, it holds its shape nicely and the crust browns in the oven. This crumbly goat cheese I'm using here is just as tasty but a little less neat in presentation.

 

After putting it in the oven for 25 minutes at 400 degrees here's what came out:

It was tasty, though lacking a little in salt. I'm always afraid to make things too salty but as a result most recipes I make end up needing more...I must work on this! Thankfully in this recipe the goat cheese and the bacon add some saltiness.

I think next time I want to try another classic, the quiche Lorraine! Stay tuned!