Quick Quiche Lorraine With Roasted Asparagus And Walnut Crema....

I have not made Quiche in several years, so last night when I was late getting dinner started, I pulled out a frozen, ready-made piecrust in the pan. Normally, I'd make my own piecrust, but time didn't allow me that luxury last night. I already had all of the ingredients on hand, so it was just a matter of some chopping and assembly. I had also wanted to try Evil Chef Mom's Roasted Asparagus Spears with Walnut Crema. Since I had all of the ingredients on hand, I went for that as well. Let me just tell you that it's even better than it sounds. Her recipe is for a large crowd so I cut it down to work for just the two of us. Therefore, you can adjust accordingly, to however many people you are serving. Also, I didn't have the pecorino cheese on hand that Krysta's recipe called for, so I just substituted with Parmesan cheese. In spite of that, it was awesome. You know, it's not easy to improve on nature's fresh asparagus, steamed, but this was really a different twist to plain old steamed asparagus and we loved it so much that we've decided to have it again tonight. I know. We are total Asparagus freaks and have it as often as we can during its best season, which is right now. So… let's get this show on the road, shall we?


Quiche Lorraine Ingredients:

1 Frozen Pie Crust, ready made

1/4 cup of diced green, red and yellow bell peppers

1/2 cup of chopped fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup of onion, diced 1 cup of smoked ham, chopped into small pieces

5 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup of fat-free Half & Half

1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup of Swiss cheese, shredded

1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded


Directions:

1. In a saucepan, sauté the onion, bell peppers, mushrooms and garlic until tender.

2. Sprinkle half of the cheddar and half of the Swiss cheese and half of the chopped ham over the bottom of the piecrust.

3. Cover evenly with the vegetable mix.

4. Beat the eggs and blend in the cream and the parsley.

5. Pour over mixture in the piecrust.

6. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes or when knife inserted comes out clean.

7. If need be, cover the edges of the crust to prevent it getting too dark.


Roasted Asparagus With Walnut Crema:

Ingredients For The Walnut Crema:

Kosher salt 1/4 cup of walnuts, crushed

1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced

Roasted Asparagus:

extra virgin olive oil

3 bunches of asparagus

kosher salt

1/4 cup of walnuts,

crushed grated pecorino (or Parmesan) cheese


Directions:

1. Lay the asparagus spears on a foil lined cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, shaking the pan to evenly coat spears.

2. Roast in a 500-degree oven to desired doneness, or about 5 minutes.

3. When done, remove spears to a serving dish and sprinkle the Walnut Crema over the asparagus. Serve hot.