The other day at work my cube-mate had a ridiculously loud visitor that drove me out of the building. I couldn't focus so I went outside to call my husband to chat for a bit.
Inevitably, we started talking about food and I had promised him I'd be making some hand pies, which I hadn't yet done. He wanted to know where the hand pies were, so I came up with the best excuse: hand pies are a weekend project.
While on the phone pleading my case over the hand pies, I realized I could turn my hand pies into an actual pie and save myself some work. Hence, the Quickie Quiche was born.
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| I know, not the best pic. Just remember, this was a weeknight after work. Don't judge me. |
For this one, I only used a recipe for the pie crust, so only one thing to screw up, right? Well, I screwed it up enough for the whole thing.
I used a simple pie crust recipe from my mother's cookbook.
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| Again, don't judge me. Crimped hair was legit in the 90s. |
Plain Pie Pastry
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
5-7 tbsp cold water
Sift flour and salt. Cut in shortening until pieces are size of small peas. Sprinkle water over 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing mixture after each addition. Form into ball and flatten on lightly floured surface. Roll 1/8 inch thick from center to edge. Place crust over a 10 inch pie pan and crimp edges with fingers or fork.
How I effed it up
Where do I start? I ignored the shortening and used butter instead. Then when I was sprinkling water I got annoyed and dumped way too much water in. To compensate I just added more flour. Surprisingly, neither of those was a big deal.
My second mistake is a dear friend of mine: laziness. I didn't feel like getting my rolling pin out so I tried to just smash the dough into a round shape. It worked, but looked real ugly.
My last mistake with this extremely simple recipe was the decision to blind bake my crust. Blind baking is simply baking the crust before filling it. Usually, to blind bake something you use baking beans or beads to fill the crust so it will retain its shape and not bubble.
I don't have beans or beads for baking so I just stuck it into the oven without. That meant that my pie began to melt and bubble and get even uglier. However, my crust still tasted great and it wasn't soggy after I filled it. Which brings me to the filling:
Quickie Quiche
1/2 pound chicken sausage, cooked and drained
3/4 cup rough chopped grape tomatoes
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese
8 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Fill the prepared pie pan and crust with your toppings. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, salt, and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the top of your quiche toppings as evenly as possible. (Don't be like me and dump your egg mixture too quickly and spill it all over your counter).
This quiche turned out awesome despite all the messes and mistakes I made. Next time I'll take more pictures so you can see how much of a bonehead I really am.
Give it a try and enjoy!
