Asparagus Quiche

I made this a few days ago because I had some asparagus to use up, plus I had all the ingredients, except half and half, but used milk. I even had an unbaked (bought) pie crust in the freezer that needed to be used.

It is quick and easy. The listed amount says it is for two pie crusts but the milk and eggs, I found, fit nicely in a large pie pan. I didn't measure or weigh the asparagus, just used what I had, which was about right. I didn't use 10 slices of bacon for this one pie, but cut a third of a package and cooked it.

This would make a nice food gift for Mother's Day or that special person you love to let her know you appreciate her.

INGREDIENTS:

1# fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces

10 slices bacon

2 (8 inch) unbaked pie shells

1 egg white lightly beaten

4 eggs

1 ½ c. half and half cream

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

2 c. shredded Swiss cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place asparagus in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and cool.

Place bacon in a large deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

Brush pie shells with beaten egg white. Sprinkle crumbled bacon and chopped asparagus into pie shells.

In a bowl, beat together eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Sprinkle Swiss cheese over bacon and asparagus. Pour egg mixture on top of cheese.

Bake uncovered in preheated oven until firm. About 35-40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

MY NOTES:

I added onions, however I tried cooking them with the bacon. The onions were done before the bacon which made me take the bacon out of the pan and finish cooking it.

We have these great microwave pans from Pampered Chef that I use for all my vegetables so I didn't steam them as suggested

Also, since you use a beaten egg white on top of the crust, you have an extra yolk, so I added it to the egg mixture.

The other suggestion I would pass on, is pat the asparagus dry. Between the onions and the asparagus, the quiche was a tad bit soft.

Like most quiches, it's easy to change ingredients, but do use the nutmeg. It adds a little something.

ENJOY!