Spinach and Ricotta Tart

sassafrasnanc's Note:

Rich and scrumptious, this is a great brunch dish as well as any other meal! Fairly simple to make. I prefer chopped FRESH spinach but I am posting this recipe as it was given to me. Also, I add feta or Montrachet cheese sometimes if I have it on hand.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach
• 1 small onion, minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 dash black pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) carton ricotta cheese
• 1 cup light cream
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick pie shell (9" pie pan) and prebake in hot oven for 5-8 minutes until lightly browned. Turn oven down to 350 degrees when pie crust is done.
2. Cook spinach until thawed and warm. Drain very well, squeezing excess moisture out with hands. (Do not precook spinach if using fresh).
3. Saute onion in butter and stir in spinach, salt, nutmeg and black pepper.
4. In separate bowl, combine Ricotta cheese, cream Parmesan cheese and eggs and blend well.
5. Add spinach mixture and stir well.
6. Pour into prebaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until custard is set.
7. Garnish with finely chopped parsley and sliced cherry tomatoes if desired.
8. May be served hot or room temperature.

Reviews

[ChoCho]

Hubby says it's amazing! I've made this many times now and we can't get enough. Once, I used frozen spinach with cooked chopped italian sausage. Another time, I've used fresh chopped spinach with chopped deli ham, and another with other veggies. I always leave out the nutmeg as I am not a fan. Such a great recipe. Thanks so much!

[Larawithoutau]

After looking at several reviews and noting that they had too much filling or having had to bake it longer, I omitted the cream altogether. I used fresh spinach, about 12 ozs (that's what I had), 20 would be a lot. I baked it in an 8x8 glass casserole. Instead of the pastry crust, I made it with a phyllo dough crust, which turned out beautifully (and it all fit in the dish). Overall, it was a really nice dish and with the ommission of the cream, I would make it again. Thanks for sharing

[Jackshoe]

This is really good, simple and easily modified to fit your tastes. I added a little bit of garlic and some soysage and it turned out pretty tasty. Next time I think I would add more garlic and a little less spinach to make a perfect tart. I also had extra filling as other reviewers stated, this wasn't a problem as I had an extra pie crust and just rolled it out to make another mini tart.