Ham, Asparagus & Gruyere Quiche

This is my all-time favorite quiche recipe. I've been using it ever since we moved to Peoria. I discovered it one Easter while looking for recipes for left-over ham.

It reminded me of the quiche Lorraine my mom made a few times when I was in elementary school and studying different cultures. I was reporting on France and had to bring a dish from that country.

In many ways, this meal also reminds me of an Italian "pizza rustica" that my family makes for Easter. It is filled with sausage, prosciutto, eggs and mozzarella cheese.

This quiche has a rich flavor from Gruyere cheese but a light, airy texture. I was craving it recently so I bought a small spiral sliced ham and some asparagus. You can use store-bought refrigerated pie crusts or make your own from scratch. Both work equally well, but be sure to pre-bake the crust so that it doesn't get soggy.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Ham, Asparagus & Gruyere Quiche
Inspired by this recipe from Simply Recipes.

1 pie crust
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
10 ounces asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups (about 8 ounces) Gruyere cheese, grated and divided
1/2 pound ham, diced
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
Fresh ground pepper

Roll out pie dough and fit into a 10-inch pie plate. Press down into bottom. Chill in freezer while oven preheats to 350 degrees.

Line pie crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and then remove weights and parchment. Poke bottom of crust all over with a fork and return to oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Transfer pie plate to a wire rack to cool while you make the quiche filling. Raise oven temperature for 375 degrees.

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet. Add shallots and cook, stirring often, until shallots are translucent but not brown. Add asparagus and cook and stir for another 10 minutes, or until asparagus begin to brown.

Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the cheese into bottom of pie pan. Spread asparagus and shallot mixture on top of the cheese. Sprinkle ham evenly over the vegetables. Top with the remaining 1 cup cheese.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, cream and eggs. Season with ground pepper. Slowly pour egg mixture into pie plate, evenly covering the cheese.

Place quiche into oven. Position a baking sheet on the rack below the quiche to catch any drippings. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until quiche is set in center and lightly browned on top. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap and refrigerate. This tastes delicious served warm or cold.

Fettuccine with Asparagus and Goat Cheese

Hello from this long lost blogger! Guys, I'm sorry I fell off the face of the earth for a while there. Life got away from me. The husband and I run a small business, and we recently moved to a new office. It was way more work than I anticipated. Like WAY more. Needless to say, blogging to a back seat to...survival.

Although my house was a giant disaster area (please don't open my closet door), I did manage to feed my family. Admittedly some nights we ate crackers and cheese for dinner, but when I was feeling slightly more ambitious, I relied on HDHH classics.

Now that it's Spring, and asparagus is on sale practically every week, I figured it was time to make Fettuccine with Asparagus and Goat Cheese.

This is totally a 20 minute meal. And it's easy clean up. Cook the pasta and asparagus in the same pot, then stir in tangy goat cheese, grainy mustard, and fresh dill for a creamy, Spring-y sauce. So easy and delicious, even I could manage it!

Dinner? You've got this!

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Fettuccine with Asparagus and Goat Cheese
Originally posted in April 2013
Serves: 6

1/3 cup pine nuts
1 pound fettuccine
2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut crosswise into thirds
5 ounces goat cheese
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pine nuts on a rimmed baking dish and bake for about 5 minutes, until they are golden brown and smell toasty. (Alternatively, you can toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, but I always burn nuts when I toast them on the stove. Feel free to live dangerously, though.)

Cook the fettuccine to al dente according to package directions in a large pot of salted boiling water. Add the asparagus during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining.

Drain the pasta and return pasta and asparagus to the pot. Stir in goat cheese, mustard, dill, and toasted pine nuts. Add pasta cooking water and stir until the cheese is melted and the pasta is evenly coated with sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Easter Round-Up

Happy Easter, dear readers! Today I'm sharing a round-up of recipes that would be perfect for your holiday table. Whether you're celebrating with breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we've got you covered.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Let's get our day started with Herbed Egg Bake. The fresh herbs hint at the Spring garden goodness that's heading our way.

Make these Carrot Coconut Muffins the night before and serve them with a schmear of butter. The Easter bunny will appreciate a few carrots, don't you think?

Use up any leftovers from your Easter egg hunt to make this Deviled Egg Sampler. Are you a traditionalist or will you add a pinch of curry to your deviled eggs?

Easter begs for ham, and this Apricot Mustard Glazed Ham is my very favorite. Bonus: It's as simple to prepare as it is delicious to eat.

Asparagus is so fresh and tender this time of year. And since it's seasonal, it'll probably be on sale this weekend. Roasted Asparagus with Lemon is my favorite way to serve this springtime veggie.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake is a refreshing and delicious dessert. I recommend piling it high with berries and freshly whipped cream.

Happy Hot Dinner Anniversary, Amy and Andrea!

It has been one year since Amy and Andrea joined our virtual dinner party here at Hot Dinner Happy Home. I know I speak on behalf of all the HDHH readers when I say we've been thrilled to have these ladies at the table!

In celebration of their blog-iversary, I'm sharing my favorite recipes from both of these gals. Without further ado...

My favorite recipe from Amy has to be Spring on Toast. Crisp bread topped with tender asparagus, runny eggs, and creamy, tangy goat cheese. I might be a bit biased about this dish because I was lucky enough to share it with Amy when I lived in Charlotte last year. Spring in Charlotte is lovely, and I'm missing the southern sunshine as I sit here in the Seattle drizzle. I think it's time to add Spring on Toast to my menu!

My favorite recipe from Andrea is Homemade Tomato Sauce, a.k.a. Sunday Gravy. Here's a true confession: I'm a little bit jealous of Andrea's Italian heritage. Most of my ancestors hail from Sweden and Ireland. You don't often hear people hankering after lutefisk or boiled potatoes. I love that Andrea's grandmother made Sunday Gravy every week for family dinner and that her various family members each add a twist to the traditional recipe. It makes me want to create food memories with my kids. And this rich, hearty Sunday Gravy is the perfect place to start.

Thanks for cooking with me, ladies!
Erin

Spring on Toast (featuring eggs and asparagus)

Last Friday, on the first day of Spring, Erin dropped by Chez George for a little culinary date. Erin brought her son Danny (he's adorbs!) and my daughters Lucy and Penny enjoyed their first "babysitting" stint. She also brought a yummy lemon buttermilk cake.

Erin and I decided to team up today to tell you about our main course, which we shall call Spring on Toast. I'd seen a friend's yummy-looking Facebook photo of toast topped with asparagus, sunnyside up eggs and goat cheese--all finished off under the broiler. (Shout out to you, Kate Y.!)

This dish was the perfect choice for the first day of Spring, a meatless Friday before Lent and for a dinner without the husbands, who are both opposed to "breakfast" for dinner. The hubbies are wrong, just wrong, btw.

Here was our conversation while eating.

Erin (while shoveling yolk-y bites of asparagus into her mouth at warp speed): OMG. Amy. This is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. It's, like, for realz Spring on Toast.

Amy (admiring the crisp-tender spears of asparagus blanketing the toast): It does taste like Spring. This asparagus is absolutely perfect. Seasonal vegetables rock my world.

Erin (now attempting to lick up the puddles of yolk pooling on her plate): I think I'm going to make this for lunch every day now.

Amy (moving her foot just in time to avoid Danny driving over it with a Barbie jeep): So good. So, so good. SO GOOD.

XOXO and let's get cooking!
Amy & Erin

Spring on Toast (featuring eggs and asparagus)
Asparagus
Olive oil
Salt
Cracked pepper
Multigrain bread, sliced
Butter
Eggs
Goat cheese

Trim asparagus and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 5 minutes or until slightly tender, but not overdone.

Butter each side of bread and "toast" each side in a skillet. Place toasted bread on a cookie sheet. Top with asparagus.

Cook eggs sunnyside up until the whites are set, just a couple minutes on medium or medium high. Slide eggs on top of the asparagus. Two per piece of toast. Note: This is a two person job and it helps if you and your culinary partner utter things like "careful, careful, careful" and "eek, eek, eek," as you try to coax the eggs on top of the toast, keeping them intact. Top eggs with goat cheese.

Broil on high until the goat cheese is softened and warmed through, about 5 minutes. (Watch carefully when you are broiling! Some broilers are hotter than the surface of the sun and will set your toast on fire in less than a minute. Erin may or may not know this from experience.) Remove and top with cracked pepper. Eat immediately.

P.S. Amy was kind enough to send the leftover Spring on Toast home with Erin, and it reheated beautifully. 425 degrees for 10 minutes and the egg was still runny and perfect.

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Fries

The husband asked what I was making for dinner. "Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Fries. Wait, wait, wait!! They're not real fries; they're baked. They're not actually fried at all. I'm just making Crispy Parmesan Asparagus. That's it. Not fries."

I was afraid of over-promising and under-delivering on the "fries" aspect of the asparagus. The husband loves fried food. If he was expecting the asparagus to taste like french fries, I worried that he'd be sorely disappointed.

Well, I had no reason to be concerned. The man went back for seconds. On baked Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Fries. I'd call that a success.

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Fries
Adapted from Closet Cooking
Serves: 4

1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika, divided
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get out three shallow bowls. Place flour in the first bowl. In the second bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon water. In the third bowl, stir together breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Evenly divide the paprika between flour and breadcrumbs and season both generously with salt and pepper. Mix to ensure the seasonings are evenly distributed.

Dredge a few spears of asparagus in flour, then dip in egg, allowing excess to drip off. Roll in breadcrumbs, pressing to help them adhere. Place asparagus on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining asparagus. If there are any breadcrumbs left in the bowl, sprinkle them on top of the asparagus. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until breadcrumbs are golden and asparagus is crisp-tender.

Fettuccine with Asparagus and Creamy Goat Cheese

There are a million ways I could describe today's recipe, so I'd better start listing:

1. Easy! You know how to boil water? Stir? Ok, then. You can handle this. Heck, turn over the reins to your kids to make this one. Watch The Real Housewives of Orange County while they take charge in the kitchen. 
2. Fast! Dinner is on the table in less than 30 minutes. Talk about a perfect weeknight meal. 
3. Vegetarian! Meatless Monday is all the rage. Hop on the bandwagon with creamy pasta and no one will miss the meat. 
4. Spring-y! Asparagus and dill tell your tastebuds that Spring has sprung even if the thermometer disagrees.
5. Delicious! Obviously, the most important thing. I wouldn't waste your time with an easy, fast, vegetarian, Spring-y dinner if it wasn't delicious. Seriously, people.

Let's make hot dinner.

--Erin

Fettuccine with Asparagus and Creamy Goat Cheese
Adapted from Everyday Food
Serves: 6

1/3 cup pine nuts
1 pound fettuccini
2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut crosswise into thirds
5 ounces goat cheese
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pine nuts on a rimmed baking dish and bake for 4-5 minutes, until they are golden brown and smell toasty. (Alternatively, you can toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, but I always burn nuts when I toast them on the stove. Feel free to live dangerously, though.)

Cook the fettuccini to al dente according to package directions in a large pot of salted boiling water. Add the asparagus during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining.

Return pasta and asparagus to the pot. Stir in goat cheese, mustard, dill, and toasted pine nuts. Add pasta cooking water and stir until the cheese is melted and the pasta is evenly coated with sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.