Since there’s been a lot of asparagus around lately, I’ve been trying to get through as many asparagus-related Simply Delicious recipes as I can. 5-39: Asparagus-Clam Quiche doesn’t sound particularly exciting or palatable, but it involves our featured ingredient and we have to cover them all, so onward we go.
Quiche is not a foreign concept for Simply Delicious–check out 5-1: Mushroom & Cheese Pie, 5-7: Quiche Lorraine, or 5-23: Cheese Pie with Tomatoes for a few different takes on the dish.
I can’t tell you how many time I’ve flipped past this recipe in the book and grimaced at the idea of an asparagus and clam quiche. This card is the last one sequentially that I have for this section (Group 05: Eggs & Cheese) in my current collection/book, but not the last in terms of recipes for this section or the book in general–by far.
Ingredients. I swapped out regular bacon for some bacon bits and bacon fat from a previous bulk cooking session. My pie shell is a half-of-one-shell-portion of Julia Child’s pate brisee recipe, which I had left over from another unrelated quiche-baking session. I should have used thinner asparagus, but it’s what I had and what the CSA box gave me. Finally, lactose-free milk for half-and-half, for the same reason as everything else.
Trimming the asparagus down–since they’re so thick, they tend to be a bit woody towards the bottom.
Blanching the asparagus segments.
Post-blanching.
Onions are chopped and tossed in the pan with the bacon fat.
Onions have some nice color on them now.
Added in the clams, milk, & seasonings.
Tried to artfully and symmetrically arrange the best parts (the tips).
Mixed up the eggs with my trusty dollar store balloon whisk.
Quiche filling poured in–it’s REALLY full. I put the pie pan on a greased half sheet pan to catch any spillage (and be able to get it off later after baking).
Topped it with cheese & paprika before putting it in the oven. You can see there’s already the beginnings of overflow.
After baking. It’s a bit dark on top, but most things that come out of my oven end up that way.
The first piece came out relatively easy, which is a good sign. There’s a bit of liquid which you can see near the bottom, but that happens with vegetables, eggs, and 2% milk.
Final plated piece. It was edible, but not really my bag. My husband dug it, and ate it over the week for breakfast. I’d be willing to try it again with a few adjustments.
Grade: C+
