Quiche With Chicken and Asparagus

 Quiche is such a versatile dish! I've posted recipes before. This one includes caramelized onions, cooked chicken thigh cubes, asparagus, cheddar cheese and a custard enriched with a bit of sour cream, plus seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning and thyme.

I had a small bunch of asparagus tips - they were more than what the recipe called for, so I steamed the rest and served them with the quiche, along with fresh local sliced strawberries, first of the season!

Chicken and Asparagus Quiche

1/2 - 1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cooked chicken thighs, skinned, boned, and cubed into bite sized pieces  
8 fresh asparagus spears, end snapped off after washing, then drained
1 prepared Quiche crust (recipe follows)
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk or nut milk or creamer
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon sweet ground paprika
¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large skillet and sauté’ the onion until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Cool.

Spread the onion over the bottom of the quiche crust.  Arrange the chicken evenly over the onions, sprinkle on half the shredded cheddar cheese, and then place the asparagus in a pattern over the chicken. Top with the rest of the cheese.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sour cream and milk together. Add the salt, pepper, paprika, thyme and poultry seasoning. Pour this mixture slowly over the ingredients in the quiche crust.

Place quiche in prepared oven and bake 20 – 25 minutes, or until just set and lightly browned on top.

Serve warm. Serves 6 – 8

Crust - Ready made and made from scratch versions
I made this the night before the luncheon, so making a crust from scratch was not an option. (The ‘from scratch’ recipe is below my substitution.)

I used Pillsbury ReadyCrust. One round was fitted into a 9-inch pie pan, the edges were crimped, a round of parchment paper was put inside and dry beans were used as pie weights. Crust was baked in a 450 degree F. oven for about 10 minutes. Pie pan was put on a cooling rack, parchment and beans were removed, and crust was left to cool.

Official Shell for Quiche1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cold shortening, cut into small pieces
½ cup (1 stick) frozen butter, cut into small pieces
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cold water
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until dough holds together and starts to forma a ball, about 25 seconds. Do not over mix.

Remove dough and shape into a 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place disk on a lightly floured surface, and with a lightly floured rolling pin roll dough from the center out to the edges, changing the direction with each stroke, until the circle is 1/8 inch thick and about 1 inch larger than the pie plate. Fold dough in half and transfer to pie plate. Press gently to remove air bubbles. Fold edge under and flute. Do not prick dough for a quiche because the filling will seep under the shell. To partially bake the shell for a quiche, bake it for 8 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack. It should be slightly warm when filling is added.