Recipe: Crustless asparagus quiche with pancetta and gouda
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| This crustless asparagus-pancetta quiche is perfect for Easter brunch. (Photos: Debbie Arrington) |
Better than any vegetable, asparagus represents spring; it’s literally spring shoots of a perennial fernlike plant. (Asparagus actually is a distant relative of onions.)
Asparagus has been a spring favorite since ancient Egypt. The Romans figured out how to freeze the shoots (in Alp snow) for later use. A recipe for cooking asparagus is included in one of the world’s oldest cookbooks, dating to first century A.D.
After generations of asparagus love in their native countries, European settlers brought asparagus crowns with them to the New World. Dutch immigrants grew asparagus as early as 1655 in the colonies.
Now, asparagus is a California specialty and plentiful this month, which makes it a good choice for building spring meals.
This easy no-crust quiche works nicely for Easter brunch – or any spring meal. It combines asparagus, pancetta and gouda cheese in a creamy egg filling. Pre-cooking the asparagus keeps the quiche from getting soggy.
Crustless asparagus quiche with pancetta and gouda cheese
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter plus butter for pan
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup pancetta or slab bacon, cubed
2 cup gouda cheese, shredded
5 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup milk
2 or 3 dashes hot sauce
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Steam or microwave cut asparagus until fork tender but still vibrant green. (For microwave, cook about 6 minutes on high with ¼ cup water.) Drain and set aside.
In a frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Saute onion until soft. Add pancetta and saute until edges start to brown. Add drained asparagus and saute lightly.
Butter a 10-inch pie pan or quiche pan. Transfer asparagus-pancetta mixture to pan, spreading evenly on bottom. Top asparagus mix with grated cheese.
In a bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add cream, milk and a few dashes of hot sauce.
Carefully pour egg mixture over cheese and asparagus mixture in pan. Place on center rack in preheated 350-degree oven. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden and a thin-bladed knife stuck near the center comes out clean.
Let cool about 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers
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| Pre-cooking asparagus keeps quiche from getting soggy. |
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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