Ham & Potato Quiche

Quiche is a great protein-forward meal that I turn to quite often, due to its family-pleasing versatility and ability to use up smaller amounts of leftover meat-whether ham (featured here), turkey, sausage, or bacon. I love serving this alongside a simple salad or one of our favorite roasted veggies, such as asparagus or broccoli. 

Ingredients:

• 1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked (recipe below)
• 2 TBSP butter
• ~1.5 cups diced, cooked ham (a Becker Farms smoked ham steak works great!)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup diced potatoes (peeled, if preferred)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, gruyere, Swiss, or a combination would work well)
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Over medium heat, add the butter. Once melted, add the ham, potatoes, garlic, and onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until tender, around 8-10 minutes.
2. Add the mixture along with the cheese into the prepared pie shell
3. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, milk, half-and-half, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over ham, potato, and cheese mixture. Top with the Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes
5. Reduce heat to 375F and continue baking for another 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I find that cutting the quiche into 6 to 8 pieces for the last 8 to 10 minutes of baking time helps ensure that the quiche is set in the center. 

(Special Notes:  You can also add more veggies in step 1 that you like, such as diced bell peppers, spinach, or mushrooms. Yum!)

Pie Crust 

Ingredients (for 2 crusts)

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• ~7 TBSP COLD water (I put a the water in the freezer for 15 minutes or so)
• 14 TBSP butter (grated and well-chilled)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.  Add in the grated, cold butter and mix either with your hand or a fork until well blended (this can take a few minutes to achieve).
2. Slowly add in the water and mix until you are able to form a disc.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface. Place in pie pan and chill again for another 30 minutes.

Note: I typically make this pie crust in my Kitchen-Aid mixer, using the paddle attachment (because it is much faster, especially when it comes to making multiple batches at one time). Follow the same steps as above, just adding ingredients to the bowl of your mixer, instead of a regular mixing bowl. 

Lastly, this crust freezes well, so I like to make several batches at one time to have it on hand in the freezer--simply roll out the dough to the desired size and then roll it up and place the rolled-up dough in parchment paper.  I then put the parchment paper rolls in a freezer bag.  When you need a pie crust or two, simply pull them out of the freezer, thaw, and unroll (it takes ~30 minutes at room temperature or put them in the refrigerator the night before).