Hash Brown, Spinach and Tomato Pie

I love when I start my day with breakfast.  It helps me not devour everything I can get my hands on around 10:00, and lunch isn't until 12:30 so the morning can feel really long if you're hungry.  Plus, you know, 10-year-olds and stuff.  They are exhausting, especially in May, so you need to keep your energy up!  My goal for the remainder of the school year (32 days but who's counting?) is to try to have a breakfast planned for every day of the workweek.  It can be as quick as a Chobani or a hard boiled egg (this week's breakfasts!) or as gloriously gourmet as this hash brown, spinach and tomato pie.  It's basically a quiche with a hash brown crust.  Let me say that again: hash brown crust.  And it is just as good as it sounds.

The quiche itself is a mixture of spinach sautéed with garlic and grape tomatoes, and eggs to hold it all together.  The crust is crunchy and soft at the same time - like a good french fry!  Add a little mozzarella, and you've got yourself breakfast for a week!  It reheats really well and makes the closet smell good.  Oh, I'm sorry, you don't microwave your breakfast in a closet at work?  Yeah, us either....  anyway, my friend Laura smelled the closet pie and asked for the recipe.  She made it and has been bringing it to work this week!  Since, as you know, I lost all my pictures last week, she was kind enough to send me hers, and she even agreed that I could claim that my pie was much prettier ;)  She kept her crust in the oven a little longer to make it extra crispy.  Mine was much lighter in color.  I'm sure both pies were equally delicious.  I have another bag of frozen shredded potato in the freezer now, and this is definitely a make-again recipe!

Recipe:

hash brown, spinach and tomato pie
from Diethood
serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 cup part-skim mozzarella, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups fresh spinach, packed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup grape tomatoes
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
pinch nutmeg
salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.  Press down the hah brown potatoes into the pie plate.  Bake for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella.  Set aside.

2) Heat olive oil in a skillet.  Add spinach and tomatoes.  Cook for 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted, stirring frequently.  Add garlic, and continue to cook for 1 minute.

3) Remove from heat, and spread over potatoes.

4) In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Whisk until thoroughly combined.  Pour over spinach and tomatoes.  Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the pie.

5) Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.