Speck Quiche

(makes 2 quiches)

• 8 eggs
• 2 cups cream
• 1 pound grated swiss cheese
• 6 ounces goat cheese crumbled
• half a diced purple onion
• 12 ounces cooked and squeeze-dry drained spinach
• Salt, pepper, ground coriander, smoked paprika, celery salt
• 1.5 cups of half-fried Speck, diced

I used refrigerated pie crusts and blind baked them with beans in foil for 10 minutes. Poured half the mix in, and topped with sliced tomato, and seasoned the top. Baked for 45-50 minutes at 375F.

While the first one baked, I got restless and gilded the lily that was the remaining filling with a cup of fresh grated Romano, and about 15 pickled jalapeno slices diced, and a teaspoon of dill.


Speck. The penultimate pork product. When someone says prosciutto is the the pinnacle, you wisely shake your head and remind them of the existence of Speck from Alto Adige, in northern Italy near Austria. The story I heard, in a nutshell, was that the Prosciutto people met up with Scandinavians hundreds of years ago, who taught them about cold smoking, and a beautiful thing was born.

I've researched this for years, learned about it from a German friend, and I had never heard of it. Finally, with the help of a couple coworkers who co-invested, a five pound glorious slab of the porkiest pork ever porked arrived.

I was not prepared for the task of removing the skin from the fat side. It is hard as wood! It took several butchering sessions to get it off. A butcher's band saw would sure be handy for this. It literally took me about an hour to get it all off.

After that ordeal, it was a simple matter of shaving it down. The flavor is simply indescribable. It's glorious. Like prosciutto only lightly smoky and more baconey. A one-minute zap in the microwave renders it to superbacon.

This is what we're quiching today, and now I have to wait half an hour to taste the first one.

Aargh now I have to let it cool.

Nope, can't wait.

Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. Best Quiche Evar ever ever.

If you charged me five dollars for one bite of this, it would seem fair.
I'm out of words. Get Speck and make this.