Caramalized Onion Quiche

I said I would post this recipe sometime last week and well here we are a week later and you get it.  Surprise!!  Just be happy you're getting a yummy recipe and a picture or two with it.  John and I love a new quiche and when I saw this in the March issue of Southern Living I knew we would love it.  I also knew I had almost all of the ingredients including a 6 month old pie crust in our freezer that surely would taste fine so I got busy.

What You Need:
1 pie crust
3 large sweet onions
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
6 cooked bacon slices crumbled
8 oz shredded cheese (I used smoked Gouda, the recipe called for Gruyere... use what you love)
1 1/2 cups half & half
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

What You Do:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Then get your pie crust out that you bought earlier in the day and have thawed... I love homemade pie crusts but I don't waste the time on making them for quiche... I'll make them for dessert pies but for some reason quiche just doesn't deserve one.... my reasoning skills are quite sharp as you can tell.

Line your crust with foil and put in the oven for about 12 minutes to bake.  Add pie weights or dried beans if it makes you feel better.  My 6 month old frost bit pie crust didn't need them but your fresh crust might.  

Take your crust out after the 12 minutes and remove the foil.  Place back into your oven and bake for about 8 more minutes.  You want the crust cooked and golden.  The foil keeps it from getting too brown.

While your crust is in the oven you can have your bacon cooking.

Also, slice your onions and heat the oil in your skillet (I used some of the bacon grease as well)... flavor over health folks.

Saute your onions on medium for about 15 minutes or until they are a nice caramel color.  Mmmm your house smells amazing right now and your husband begins asking when dinner will be ready right now.

When your onions and your bacon is done (your bacon needs to be crispy for all of you "I like mine part raw and floppy" kind of bacon eaters... that won't work.  If you can't crumble it with your fingers it needs like another 10 minutes in a hot pan.  Gross.  So, when your bacon and onions are fully cooked remove from the heat and chop up your parsley.

Combine the parsley, onions and crumbled bacon.

Now take your cheese and grate it.  By hand.  And eat two fist fulls because you don't need the entire 8 ounces.

Add half of the bacon onion mixture to your pie crust that has been cooling on a wire rack that I was supposed to mention earlier but didn't until now and you are thinking I'm really helpful and why didn't I just post a link to the recipe instead of doing all this picture junk and confusing you because you just want the dang recipe and could care less about my pictures.  

Then add half of your cheese mixture.

Top this with the other half of the bacon onions and then the cheese.

Whisk together your half & half, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Pour this mixture over the cheese.  May I suggest using a cookie sheet under your pie crust dish... I overflowed my pan and thankfully caught it on the sheet but let's just say I still can't get that cookie sheet clean and I think I'll throw it away.... line your sheet with foil, then pour the egg mixture and bake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  It takes awhile for this quiche to set and I think it depends a bit on the type of cheese you choose.

Cool for about 15 minutes before serving.  There is no point in serving immediately because it is too hot to eat and my mouth can prove it.

Here is what Ann thought of her dinner after seeing ours.... I don't blame her.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  I had to keep John from eating the entire thing and at least save two pieces for our lunch the next day.  A quiche should serve at least 4 people... we're lucky if it makes it to two in our house.  Ann better learn to hoard food early or John will eat it all.  Just kidding.. he wouldn't steal food from our baby but Tara might.