Brocoli & Bacon Quiche

My biggest challenge in the kitchen is a pie crust. I think I've made maybe 2 decent crusts in my life. Sometimes they look okay, but the texture sucks. Other times they taste fine, but the crust is ugly. This year, for Thanksgiving, I decided to skip the hassle and pick up some frozen crusts. They were okay, but I think what I really need to do is perfect my own crust. Prepared crusts taste like prepared crusts. Okay, not great.


In the meantime, I had one crust left over in the freezer. I've been craving a quiche, so tonight I took stock of what I already had in the fridge and whipped one up.
Brocoli & Bacon Quiche

1 pie crust2 cups brocoli flowerettes, steamed and drained

5 slices bacon, browned and chopped

3/4 cup grated Swiss Cheese

3/4 cup grated Monterrey Jack Cheese

1/4 cup onions, diced

4 eggs

1/2 cup half and half (I used fat free)

1 TB flour

1 tsp granulated garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F

Place pie crust in pan, crimp edges. Place brocoli into pie crust, layer onions, bacon, then cheeses over the top. Crack eggs into a bowl, add half and half, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix with a whisk until a just bit frothy. Pour over pie crust contents. Place in oven. Put a piece of aluminum foil over the top (keeps crust from over browning). Set timer for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Set timer for 15 additional minutes. Remove for oven. Let set for 5 minutes, then serve.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

Corkscrew Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes

This weekend I saw a recipe for Fusilli with Spinach and Asiago Cheese on the Food Network. The recipe was featured during Everyday Italian, and the idea was quick meals with items on hand. Sarah and I love Spinach, so we decided to try our own version of the dish last night. I only had about 4 cherry tomatoes, so I chopped some heirloom tomato left over from a salad that I made the day before. I skipped the Asiago, which I love, but did not have in my fridge, and I added onions. My fresh garlic was not as fresh as I thought it should be, so I used some granulated garlic instead. I skipped chopping the spinach. It smooshes down so much, this felt like a wasted step.

Here's what I had.......
Here's what I did...........

Corkscrew Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes

1 lb of corkscrew pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced purple onions
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
6 cups fresh Spinach
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
salt
pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan

As pasta cooks, start the sauce. Saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add granulated garlic, then spinach. As spinach wilts, add in tomatoes. Taste a small amount, then add salt and pepper as needed. Pasta should be ready right around this point. Take out one cup of pasta water, set aside, then drain pasta. Dump pasta into sauce pan. Use tongs to turn the pasta over and over, to move the spinach and tomato throughout the pasta. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water, continue turning over. This makes the vegetables saucier. Add the rest of the water, then sprinkle the cheese and work it through.

That's it. You are done.