Quiche is fun, versatile, and a great dish to bring along to a potluck gathering. However, if you're like me, you have at least a handful of friends with food allergies and you want to be able to share with them as well. With that in mind, I recently put together a potato-crusted quiche to take along to a gathering. (A dairy-free, vegetarian roasted potato salad went along as well, but that's another recipe for another time.) At the end of the evening, I had a few crumbs in the bottom of my pie plate.
Now, you can put whatever you'd like in your quiche. But, given the time of the year and our yearning for true spring weather, the combination of creamy chèvre and crisp-tender asparagus was really appealing to me. But the great thing about quiche is that it really lives up to its nickname: refrigerator pie. Just open your refrigerator and pull together the leftovers, little bits of this and that, and you already have most of what you'll want for filling a quiche. It's really that simple.
So the next time you are at a loss for what to bring to that potluck, picnic, or party, consider the versatility and flavor that quiche has to offer and know that even the crust can be flexible according to your tastes and needs!
Crispy Potato Crusted Quiche with Chèvre and Asparagus
- Cooking spray
- 10 oz. frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed slightly
- 1 oz. finely grated parmesan cheese
- 12 spears fresh asparagus
- 1/2 onion - diced
- 2 T. butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 c. half & half
- 1/2 c. chèvre (goat cheese), crumbled
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
Toss the slightly thawed hash browns with the grated parmesan cheese and gently press the mixture into the prepared pie pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, break off the woody ends of the asparagus and throw them away. Cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onion and asparagus in the butter until the onion is translucent. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, half & half, chèvre, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.
Reduce the heat on the oven to 325 degrees F. Remove the hash brown pie crust from the oven, arrange the asparagus and onion mixture in it, and pour the egg mixture over everything in the shell. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the center has risen and is slightly golden brown.
Remove the quiche from the oven and let cool before slicing into it. The quiche can be served warm or at room temperature.
- Yields: 8-10 servings
- Preparation Time: About an hour