Italian Sausage, Pepper, Green Onion and Cheddar Quiche

Quiche is one of my favorite entrees.  It is a people pleaser regardless if you have it in the AM, brunch, or PM.  In my opinion, quiche is a great dinner staple, and I personally love breakfast for dinner.  If you use a premade pie crust, the only "hard" part about quiche is waiting for it to cook.

Kid tested, mother approved

Quick and easy meals that I can make after I put my son to bed are also a must.  And what is quicker than letting your entree come to room temperature or heating it in the oven for a few minutes until warm while you whip up a delicious side salad?  Exactly... Quiche is a great busy week night meal.

I love my Italian Sausage, Pepper, Green Onion and Cheddar Quiche recipe for a number of reasons.   You can make the sausage, peppers, and onions ahead of time and assemble the quiche the day you plan to serve it.  Or you can make it during the Super Bowl for dinner the following night... It was that or sleep.  Just saying.

Some notes before we begin.  I use the whole green onion, but if you prefer a milder taste then use the green parts only.  You can use any type of bell pepper, and while green or red peppers might be more visually appealing, I do not like the taste of either and they don't agree with my tummy.  Hey, it is my recipe and my preferences.  Feel free to substitute half and half or cream for the milk, but I find milk goes better when you have rich fillings, and Italian sausage and cheddar cheese are as rich as you get.   And while you can use any type of a sausage I highly, highly, highly recommend Premio Sweet & Hot Italian Sausage.

It is the perfectly seasoned and they sell their sausage without the casings.  I substitute Premio Italian sausage in so many recipes that call for ground beef from bolognese, to meatballs, to meatloaf.  I particularly love this Italian sausage mix.  It is the perfect ratio of sweet with a little heat. And if you are thinking that Premio sponsored this post they did not.  No one did.  But Premio, if you want to sponsor any future posts call me!

Now that I'm thinking about it I realize that most of my favorite dishes are either vegetarian or involve pork of some sort.  I mean sausage, pepperoni, bacon, pork chops, ham...  Can you be a porkatarian?  Click here for my other pork based quiche recipe.

While this is my recipe and my preferences, feel free to substitute ingredients based on your preferences.  That's the beauty of cooking.  And leave me a comment if you enjoyed this recipe. 

Italian Sausage, Pepper, Green Onion and Cheddar Quiche

Ingredients:

• 2 green onions chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup diced orange bell pepper (about 1/2 of large pepper) 
• 1 lb Italian sausage (mix of 2 hot links and 4 sweet links)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided in half
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place pie crust on baking sheet
2. Remove sausage from casings.  Brown sausage (without oil, butter, or  cooking spray) in a large pan over medium high heat.  While browning sausage break into bite sized pieces

3. Once browned transfer sausage with a slotted spatula / spoon to paper towel lined bowl.  Make sure to keep the left over grease in the pan for sauteing the veggies

Yep, Rocky was waiting for a sausage sample.  How could I say no to that face?

4. In the same pan used to cooked the sausage, saute peppers and onions in sausage grease over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes
5. Remove paper towel from bowl with sausage.  Add cooked peppers and onions to bowl with sausage and mix to combine ingredients

Be careful, your family might try to eat the filling when you're not looking 

6. Whisk together eggs and milk until incorporated and season with salt and pepper to taste

7. Fill pie crust with half of the sausage mixture

8. Top sausage filling with 1 cup cheese

9. Add remaining sausage mixture over cheese

10. Pour egg mixture over sausage filling

11. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese

12. Bake quiche at 350 degrees preheated oven for 50-55 minutes until eggs are set (a toothpick inserted should come out clean) and cheese is browned
13.  Allow quiche to rest for 20-30 minutes before serving
 
Or if you made the quiche the day before like I did, allow it to come to room temperature.  I know some people like cold quiche, but I'm not some people.  I personally cut a slice and let it warm in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, but my husband and son like it room temperature.  What's your quiche temperature preference?  Are you a warm, room temperature, or "some people" cold type?

Chard + Berries = Blender Bliss

I didn't get a chance to blog last night because I worked late.  We didn't eat dinner until 8:45pm and I had no mental capacity for any form of thought. 

 BREAKFAST

Yesterday I finished all the chard and I have come to the consensus that the trick to a decent tasting chard green drink is frozen berries.

Lots of them...

DINNER

I don't really have a desire to discuss dinner as it left me feeling sick to my stomach.  We did finish off the corn.  I should say my husband finished off the corn.  My piece was rotten, which I didn't realize until I had eaten half of it.  So that's why farmers use pesticides...

Remaining veggies:

- Mixed greens
- Yellow squash
- 1/2 of a purple onion

About last night... Basic Pesto Recipe

I had plans to blog about my veggie eats yesterday since I incorporated veggies into TWO meals, get it girl, but I was exhausted after work and making dinner.  Plus, soaking my feet and watching Master of None was much more appealing.

BREAKFAST

Turns out chard is much more palatable in a green drink with berries.  Yesterday I blended chard with Siggi's Mixed Berry Yogurt, vanilla almond milk, and frozen mixed berries.  I pounded it on my way to work.

The earthy taste of the chard was masked with the sweetness of the berries.  I normally like pineapple with spinach or kale, but I think chard goes best with berries.  I have some more chard to eat so I'll continue to experiment.

DINNER

Dinner was very green, but awesome!  I love pesto and whenever I get basil in my CSA box I make some type with stuffed pasta and last night was no exception.  I made a traditional basil pesto with cheese tortellini and sweet Italian chicken sausage.

Plus a side of sauteed zucchini and onions because the week is coming to an end and I have to eat all the veggies in my box! #goals

I think I make a delicious pesto if I do say so myself. You can substitute the basil with any green, however, I recommend that at least half the greens are basil when making this recipe. 

Basic Pesto

Ingredients:
2 cups washed and dried basil, stems removed
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parmesan reggiano cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until the consistency of your choosing.

It's that easy.

You can eat this pesto cold or warm.  When eating it with a pasta I cook the pasta as directed and then bring the pot back to the warm stove top.  With the flame off I add the pesto to the warm pan and gently fold in the cooked pasta.  In this case tortellini and chicken sausage.  The pesto will warm with the residual heat of the stove top.

Serve with cheese and enjoy!

Remaining veggies:

- Mixed greens
- Yellow squash
- 1/2 of a purple onion
- Swiss chard
- 2 cobs of corn 

Crispy Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

My husband has been craving steak.  I, on the other hand, only like meat when I'm in the mood, which is pretty much never.  Unless by meat you mean tuna fish because I love tuna.

Lucky for husband I was sick this weekend, which means he took one for the team and got to pick out groceries or how I like to think about it, whatever he wants to eat.  Since he knew today would be a snow storm, he decided to make a nice steak and potato meal and being the good wife that I am, I agreed to eat whatever he cooked.  

Let's just say dinner was delicious and I'm glad he wanted steak.

I would love to take credit for dinner, but hubs was in charge of the steak.  I won't and can't even pretend to know how he cooks it, but it's the bomb.  Clearly I should have more steak in my life.  I did contribute though with two of my go to sides that are super easy and make for great food presentation:Crispy Parmesan Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus.

Click here for the Roasted Asparagus Recipe

Crispy Parmesan Baked Potatoes

Printable Recipe

Servings: about 4

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs baby potatoes
• 1/4-1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (powdered or shredded both work)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Clean potatoes and slice in half lengthwise

3. Put about 1/4 cup of the mustard and cheese in separate shallow dishes for dipping (remember you can always add more mustard and cheese as needed)
4. Dip potato cut side down in mustard

5. Then dip in Parmesan cheese

6. Shake off extra cheese and place potatoes cut side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper

7. Repeat dipping potatoes in mustard and then cheese until all potatoes are on baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste

8.  Cook potatoes for 30 minutes or until a knife easily pierces through potato and cut side is golden brown

Dish up and enjoy!  I know I did.