Meat Crust Quiche

This past weekend I had two of my lovely friends over for an awesome paleo brunch.  These two also follow the paleo lifestyle so it was fun to share methodologies and recipes with them.  Post brunch I had planned to garden all afternoon but of course Portland's "70 and sunny" afternoon turned into a manic rain and wind storm, might I add I'm still waiting for the sunny day to get some seeds planted.  In other news I'm headed to another book club meeting tonight, we were all reading The Monuments Men which turned out to be a super boring book so we switched mid-month.  I'm happy that I am part of such a wonderful group of women who accept change and encourage it, I have heard otherwise about other book clubs...  I found this recipe in a search for good paleo brunches, all of which seem to involve sweet potatoes and I think that gets a little old but this sweet potato plays a minor role in the dish.

Serves 4

The Ingredients
1 pound pork sausage
1 small sweet potato, diced
½ yellow onion, diced
2 cups fresh spinach
4 eggs, whisked
2 garlic clove, minced
1teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon ground paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons bacon fat

The Process
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Now  make your sausage into a crust. In a pie plate and begin to press your sausage into the pan until it is even all around and pressed up to the rim of the plate.

3.  Place the pan on a baking sheet (in case of any spills) and in the oven, and bake for 18-20 minutes until meat presses back when you poke it. It doesn’t need to be completely cooked through, but pretty close.

4.  While your crust is baking, place 2 tablespoons of bacon fat into a saucepan over medium heat. Then add the minced garlic.

5.  Add in the chopped onions and sweet potatoes to the pan and mix. Once the onions begin to become translucent, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on top and cover to help steam the potatoes and cook quicker.

6.  Once potatoes are tender after about 4-5 minutes, toss in the spinach and cover once more to help the spinach wilt.

7.  After a minute or two, once the spinach is wilted, remove your mixture from the pan and place in a bowl to let cool.

8.  When mixture is cooled, add in the eggs, garlic powder, ground paprika and a bit more salt. Mix well.

9.  After the crust is done baking, remove the excess oil that may be left behind, then pour your egg mixture on top of the meat crust. It’s just fine if some leaks over into the pan because the meat will shrink just a bit.

10.  Place the pan back into the oven and bake for 23-25 minutes. Once the middle pushes back when you poke it, it’s good to go.

11.  Let cool, cut and serve.