Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie w/ Bacon

This evening I was in the mood for my Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie.  Without question, it is one of my favorites.  I could eat it every day.  I always add the maximum amount of spinach to my pie when I make it because I really love spinach.  One of my followers recently mentioned that she had added bacon to it when she last made it and it turned out great.  I've thought about adding it in the past, but never seem to have leftover bacon handy when I make the pie. This evening, I just happened to have 6 slices of cooked uncured bacon left in my refrigerator from this past Sunday's brunch...so tonight was the night to finally add it to the pie. After I made the filling, I simply cut the cooked bacon into bite-sized pieces and stirred it into the filling mixture before pouring it into the crust.  I must say...it turned out fabulous!  Thank you, Barbara!!!  This "pie" makes an excellent breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It is one of those dishes that can be served any time of day and portable enough to pack in your lunch and take with you, too. I snapped a few photos for you to see below as well as the recipe.  Enjoy!

Our first tomatoes of the summer...not too many this year with all the rain we've had!

BOOM!

Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie

Ingredients:

Crust
2 cups almond flour
3 tablespoons cold butter, diced into small cubes
1 egg
1 teaspoon Greek Seasoning (or Italian Seasoning), optional 

Filling
10 oz. fresh spinach (up to 16 oz), cooked and squeezed dry and chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 to 2 teaspoons, if using fresh)
1 to 2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 eggs (or 1-1/4 cups Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup half-n-half, cream or milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Place all crust ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cut butter and egg into flour with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles small pebbles and the flour is thoroughly moistened (the same way you prepare a pie crust).  Press crust mixture into pie dish or tart pan (I used a 10" pie dish).  Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from oven and set aside.

Increase oven temp to 350 degrees F.  In a non-stick skillet, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent; remove and set aside.  In the same skillet, saute spinach, just until wilted.  Drain and press as much liquid out of the spinach as possible (I use a mesh strainer and press it with the back of a large spoon).  Place well drained spinach in a medium bowl (coarsely chop first, if desired); add cooked onions and garlic, feta, dill, lemon zest, pepper, eggs and half-n-half.  Mix until well combined.  Pour mixture into the lightly baked crust and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes; lower oven temp to 325 F (so edge of crust doesn't over brown); bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until filling and eggs are set and cooked .  If the center still seems a little jiggly, cook an additional few minutes.

**Optional:  Add crumbled cooked bacon to the filling mixture before baking. Almond meal also works well in this crust recipe (I've been told that almond meal can be purchased at Trader Joe's for $3.99/lb).