Pasta with Spinach Cream Sauce

This cream sauce can actually be made without any butter or cream. Potato starch flour gives it a smooth creaminess (I find that wheat flour gives a grainy consistency).

1 small onion
5-10 cloves garlic
1 package frozen spinach
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups milk
1 tbsp. potato starch flour
salt, nutmeg, crushed red pepper, and black pepper (to taste)
prepared pasta

1. Chop onions and garlic.

2. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft.

3. Add potato starch flour and stir for a few seconds. Slowly add milk, stirring to incorporate. Cook milk for a few minutes until thick and bubbly.

4. Add frozen spinach (directly from package) and stir until spinach is completely thawed and incorporated into cream sauce.

5. Add a pinch of nutmeg, black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper.

6. Add prepared pasta and cook for a few minutes with sauce.

Spinach and Jalapeno Quiche

Jalapeno peppers make this quiche deliciously spicy.
Special hardware required: quiche pan.

Crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white vinegar
A few spoonfuls of ice water

Filling
10 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
2 packages frozen spinach
4-5 jalapeno peppers, diced
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup milk
4 eggs
cubed pepper jack cheese (1/2 cup to 1 full cup)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chill quiche pan in the freezer so that it becomes a cold working surface for preparing the dough for the crust.

2. Dice chilled butter into pea-sized cubes.

3. In the chilled quiche pan, mix butter cubes with flour and salt. Add vinegar and ice water, about a teaspoon at a time, and knead dough. Continue adding water until the dough forms a tacky ball.

4. Place dough ball and quiche pan in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.

5. Remove quiche pan and dough ball from the freezer and flatten dough around the pan. Push up against the sides of the pan to form a crust. Use a fork to poke holes in the crust to prevent bubbles later.

6. Return finished crust to the freezer for about 10 minutes (or until the dough is almost frozen). This will prevent the dough from slipping down the sides during baking.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

8. Place frozen crust directly into the oven and bake until golden brown.

9. While crush is cooking, saute onions, garlic, and jalapenos in olive oil. Add frozen spinach and cook until the mixture is very dry (any excess liquid will make the crust soggy).

10. Beat eggs and milk. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

11. Remove crust from oven and fill with vegetable mixture. Slowly pour egg over vegetable mixture to fill any crevices. Sprinkle with cheese.

12. Carefully transfer to oven and bake about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the quiche comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.