This Italian-style quiche reminds me of the food my mum used to cook for me when I was a child. I just love it. For the filling, feel free to add a few pitted olives, torn-up sun-dried tomatoes, different cheeses or anchovies.

Dust a clean work surface with flour, get the pastry out and roll it with a floured rolling pin into a rectangular shape about ¼ inch thick and big enough to line a shallow baking pan about 11 x 15 inches.

Grease the pan with butter and line it with the pastry. Trim any excess off the edges of the pan, leaving a ½-inch overhang. Pinch this overhanging dough up to give a little rim. This not only gives it a rustic edge but also stops the pastry from shrinking and it means there’s no need to fill the pastry case with beans or rice before baking it blind. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and chill in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Remove the pan from the fridge and bake your pastry crust in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly golden. This is called baking it blind, and it stops the pastry from going soggy when you add the filling. Next, heat a glug of olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onions on a low heat for 10 minutes until they’re soft and sweet, but don’t let them color. Turn up the heat, add the garlic, the spinach (in batches if your pan isn’t big enough) and most of the marjoram. Season lightly and give it a good stir. Take the pan off the heat when the spinach has wilted – this will only take a couple of minutes.

To make the filling mixture, put the crème fraîche into a bowl, stir in the Parmesan, eggs and a pinch of salt and pepper, mix together and set aside. Now spread the spinach mixture over your pastry case. Sprinkle over the ham, and spoon the mixture evenly over the top, smoothing it out with the back of the spoon. Grate over a generous helping of Parmesan, sprinkle over the rest of the marjoram and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling and the filling has set. Lovely served with a little salad of watercress, dressed with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

Recipe From: Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life
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