Rustic Quiche with Ham, Asparagus and Cheese

Quiche is one of those things I love making when I want to use up some leftover ingredients that I have on hand in the fridge. Also, it's something pretty simple to throw together since I usually keep pie crust in the freezer or fridge. Sometimes I have store-bought or sometimes I have some discs of homemade. The filling possibilities are pretty endless with quiche - spinach, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, asparagus, ham, bacon or sausage. For this go-round, I used ham, green onions and asparagus. And, of course, there's cheese in there - lots of cheese!

And, truth be told ... I hate messing with crimping or fancying up the edges of pie crusts. So I just cut off the excess, leave it as-is and label the recipe rustic. (Sounds legit to me!)

Yields 8 slices.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell (either homemade or store-bought)
1 cup chopped ham (I used thinly-sliced deli ham)
1 cup chopped asparagus
1/3 cup chopped deli Swiss cheese
1/4 cup freshly-grated/shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sliced green onions
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Set oven to 350 degrees. Blind bake the pie crust in a pie pan for about 7 - 8 minutes. (I do this by lining the crust with either parchment paper or foil, then filling with dry beans to weight it down.)

Meanwhile, slightly cook the asparagus by either quickly blanching it in boiling water or lightly sautéing it in a little olive oil.  (If blanching, be sure to drain well.)

Remove pie crust from oven. Remove beans and parchment/foil. Fill crust with ham, asparagus, the cheeses and green onion.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour custard over filling ingredients.

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until custard is set. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes prior to slicing and serving.

NOTE: We like the edges of our quiche crust a little crunchy, so I don't bother protecting the edges with foil or a pie crust edge cover. You can cover the crust edge during part of the baking if you don't prefer it quite as well-done.