I love making pies – but my sweet pie baking adoration actually began with a savory sort of twist. I grew up baking quiche!

Spinach and tomato quiche, actually.

(As an aside, my first introduction to quiche was at a restaurant. The chalkboard special read, “Quiche Lorraine.” At my girlfriend’s side, I looked up at her mother and uttered, “What is a quick-e?”)

I will NEVER make THAT pronunciation mistake again.

Sheesh.

And, now that I’ve perfected my pie crust recipe, I decided to mix it up a bit by creating a salty water cracker crust.

It puts a nice little touch on things, as does the extra black pepper!

Black Pepper & Spinach Water Cracker Quiche

Crust:
8 Tbs. butter, ice cold and cubed into 1/2″ pieces
1 cup all purpose flour  + more for rolling
1 1/4 cup water crackers, ground into a fine, “flour-like” powder
1 egg
1 Tbs. white vinegar
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Pulse all the ingredients for the crust together in a food processor until crumbly.
Pile the crumbs on a floured surface and roll out the dough into an oversized 9″ round crust.
Carefully transfer to a deep pie dish.
Sprinkle the crust with ground pepper.

Filling:
6 large eggs
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Whisk together all the filling ingredients and fill the pie crust.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown on the top. 
Allow to cool and set before serving.