Western Quiche
I converted a recipe I found in Taste Of Homes Christmas cookbook for a vegetarian quiche and created my own. Basically the only thing remaining from the original recipe is the egg mixture. The use of Half and Half helps to give it it's creamy melt in you mouth taste.
The result is a delicious quiche where you can't stop at just one piece.
The great thing about this recipe is you can substitute different ingredients you think might go good together in place of the ham, onions and green peppers. If you want to serve it for breakfast, try substituting the ham for sausage or bacon. You could also try substituting or adding potatoes to the recipe. If you don't want such a hearty cheese taste, you could also try using a milder cheese A different flavor of cheese can help to give it a different distinct taste. A mild cheddar could give the quiche a more subtle cheese flavor, for instance.
Up until recently I was a recipe purist in that I didn't try messing with an already established recipe afraid if I did it would turn into a tasteless disaster. But earlier this year I had to cook for someone on the fly, having to create meals with what ingredients they had available, so I started getting creative with recipes. And this is the perfect recipe to experiment with.
If you're watching your calories and the thought of eating a dish with Half and Half in it is too fattening for you, you could substitute low fat or skim milk for the Half and Half. It isn't the Half and Half that thickens the egg mixture, it's the flour. You could also substitute a low-fat cheese for the regular cheese. And if Cholesterol is a big concern for you, you could substitute egg substitute for the eggs. The recipe doesn't need egg whites, so it's not essential that you use real eggs.
This quiche isn't just great as a breakfast dish, it can also be served for lunch of dinner. A new trend in the nursing home I used to work at was to some times serve breakfast for supper. Just add a salad and you have a nice light supper on those nights you're not in the mood for a heavy dinner.
A lot of the ingredients can also be prepared ahead to cut down on preparation time. If you don't like to do a lot of cutting and cooking in the morning, just cut up all the ingredients the night before and cook the pie shell in advance. Then all you have to do is pour the cut up meat and vegetables in the pie shell the next morning and take five minutes to whip up the egg mixture and just pop it into the oven. It's the cutting up of the ham, onions and green peppers that takes up so much of the preparation time.
Once you've made this recipe once, you'll want to make it again. It's that good and that easy to make.
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced ham
- 1/2 cup thinly diced green peppers
- 1/2 cup thinly diced onions
- 1 cup Mexican blend cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup Half and Half
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 deep dish Pet-Ritz pasty shell
Instructions
- Cut up ham, green peppers and onions and mix together. Set aside for later.
- Place a folded piece of Reynold's wrap over the pie shell to prevent it from developing bubbles and back at 450 for 5 minutes. Remove pie shell from over and remove Reynold's wrap from the top of the pie shell and return it to the oven to bake for an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove pie shell from the oven and reduce oven temperature to 350. Line bottom of pie shell with the ham, green pepper and onion mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top of the ham, green pepper and onion mixture.
- In a small mixing bowl break three eggs and use a small whisk to mix them together. Add the flour and continue to mix until mixture is smooth. Add the Half and Half and salt and pepper and mix until mixture is smooth.
- Pour egg mixture on top of cheese and place pie on a cookie sheet. Then place it in the over and cook for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the pie comes out clean.
