Spinach Pie

Since I’m a little older than most people, whenever I think of spinach, images of the cartoon Popeye the Sailor Man pop up in my mind. Often, he would resist eating spinach unless he absolutely had to, especially when he had to rescue his love, Olive Oil.  

I too, when I was young, would refuse to eat spinach. I just didn’t like the taste. What I have discovered as I have gotten older, is when you combine spinach with other things you end up with something that tastes great and still have the benefits of that healthy food as well.  

Spinach is one of those vegetables we should always include in our diet. Spinach is rich in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C, and K as well as folate, iron, and magnesium. It is beneficial for your heart, bones, and eye health. It also has antioxidants as well as low calories.

The recipe I am giving you today is one I have experimented with for a couple of years and finally found the perfect combination for a tasty, healthy meal. My goal, as always, is to come up with a recipe that not only tastes good but is also good for you.  

This is definitely different from a Quiche recipe which uses heavy cream as its base. Instead, I used eggs to hold the pie together. Some might be concerned with the number of eggs I use for this recipe because they have heard that the cholesterol in eggs is bad for you. That is not the case any longer. Tests have proven that ingested cholesterol does not significantly raise cholesterol levels in the blood. So, enjoy those eggs. They themselves have been nicknamed ‘nutrient bombs’ because of how rich they are in nutrients. 

So, let’s take a look at the recipe.  

Crust Ingredients: 

2 cups Bisquick baking mix 

5 tablespoons melted butter 

3 tablespoons cold water 

Instructions: 

1. Mix ingredients in a large bowl with a spoon, kneading the dough and adding either baking mix or water until dough is neither sticky nor powdery 

2. Press the dough into a pie dish with fingers until the entire pan is covered and evenly spread over the dish. 

Bisquick has become a favorite of mine. It is easy to use without having to mix a whole bunch of ingredients together. It contains flour, corn starch, and leavening to help make fluffy biscuits. On the downside, it does have a little sugar and vegetable oil, which I’m not a fan of, but the small quantity is not enough to worry too much about. 

Butter on the other hand, though saturated, is a healthier food than vegetable oils. In moderation, saturated fats are needed for one's health, just not too much saturated fats. 

In a bowl, mix the Bisquick with butter and add the prescribed water. Once mixed, try to separate the spoon from the dough. If it is too sticky to separate, add a pinch of Bisquick until the dough is dry enough to separate from the spoon.  

Afterwards, take the lump of dough in your hands and spread it out with your fingers until you cover the pie dish.  

Next are the contents of the pie. 

Pie Ingredients: 

2 cans leaf spinach, drained 

7 eggs 

2 tablespoons milk 

3 tablespoons minced garlic 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 tablespoon Hot pepper flakes 

2 tablespoons ground coriander 

2 tablespoons cumin  

½ cup parmesan cheese 

1-pound of ground turkey 

cheddar cheese 

Instructions: 

1. Mix all ingredients together except the cheese. 

2. Pour mixture into a pie pan with crust and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. 

3. Pull out of oven and spread a layer of cheddar cheese on top. 

4. Place back into the oven for 10 minutes. 

5. Use a toothpick or fork to test the center and see if it is done. (If it is done it should come out dry) 

The first step in successfully making this pie is to properly drain the cans of spinach. I like using canned spinach because it is already in the wilted condition that I’m looking for. Place the canned spinach in a strainer and after a few minutes, use a large spoon to press down on the spinach until you get as much of the water out of the spinach. 

I have tried a variety of meat combinations and seasoning combinations. In the end, I have found the combination of ground turkey with ground coriander and cumin to have the most pleasing result.  

After mixing all the ingredients and placing them in the pie crust, then place the pie in an oven at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. At that point, pull the pie out of the oven and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top of the pie. Put it back in the oven for 5-10 more minutes.  

Pull it out and stick a toothpick in the center. If it is dry, then the pie is done. If it seems a bit too moist, put it into the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes.  

Once done, pull the pie out of the oven and let it cool. Once cool, slice it into 8 individual servings.  

The nutrition of this recipe looks like this per serving. 

Calories – 359 

Total fat – 23.2 

Sat. fat – 8.3 

Total carbs – 18.1 

Fiber – 1.2 

Sugars - 0.8 

Protein – 19.2  

This is a very healthy dish that I hope you will enjoy. Let me know if you have tried it.