Bacon Asparagus Mini Quiche

Today is mother's day, so I want to start by saying that while everyone out there is filling up my facebook feed with how their moms are the best, they are all incorrect. Because my mom is.
Anyway, on to food! Today I made mini-quiche which are one of the classiest hors d'oeuvres in existence. The best part of quiche in general is that it tastes good both warm and at room temperature, so it's something that can be made in advance and sit out without serious consequences to flavor. They also freeze extremely well for future use, and the kind that you can buy in the freezer section at the grocery store are generally pretty decent.



But why buy from the grocery store when you can easily make mini quiche at home? We've been getting awesome asparagus lately as it's in season during the spring, so I really wanted to highlight it in my quiche. I also used refrigerated pie crust for my recipe. For me, this is mostly a time saver, but making a crust from scratch or a pate brisee would be even more amazing.

Bacon Asparagus Mini Quiche

Ingredients


1 cup light cream
5-6 pieces of asparagus
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
3 strips bacon
1 refrigerated pie crust

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a frying pan, start cooking your bacon strips over medium heat. While they are cooking, boil a small pot of water. Chop the asparagus into about 1/2" pieces and simmer for about 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. When bacon is medium crispy, place on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Roll out your refrigerated pie crust. I found that I needed it a little bit thinner, so I rolled it out a bit more with a rolling pin. Cut approximately 2" circles with a cutter (I actually used the lid of a large spice jar because it was the right size). Place the circles into a non-stick mini-muffin pan.

Place a little bit of the shredded cheese in the bottom of each crust-lined muffin cup.

Whisk together the light cream, eggs, and egg yolk. Season with a bit of salt and pepper if desired (not really necessary due to the saltiness of the cheese and bacon). Make sure the egg is fully incorporated into the cream.

Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full with the egg mixture. I like to pour my cream mixture into a liquid measuring cup. It makes it SO much easier to pour it into the muffin tin without spilling everywhere.

Place 2-3 pieces of asparagus in each cup. Chop your bacon (I actually cut mine up with a pair of kitchen sheers) and sprinkle a bit in each cup. If there's room, pour a little bit more egg mixture into each cup up to the top of the pastry.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. Remove immediately from the pan to a wire rack. I found that they popped out really easily if I slid a knife around the outside and then used a teaspoon to sort of scoop them out.

I will definitely be making these again, and will be trying them with a variety of veggie, meat, and cheese combinations!