Recipes

Pesto Tomato & Asparagus Quiche

This simple, vibrant dish showcases how our Armanino Basil Pesto can enhance and amplify the flavors of almost any savory dish. Make the pie crust yourself, or use a pre-made one from the refrigerator or freezer section at your local supermarket. Either way, this is a tasty dish for a leisurely brunch or even a simple dinner.

Ingredients

homemade or purchased pie dough for a single 9-inch pie
3 large eggs
¾ cup heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
3 tablespoons grated parmesan
3 tablespoons Armanino Basil Pesto, divided
8 stalks thin asparagus, tough ends discarded and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 cherry or plum tomatoes, halved

Directions

For the pie dough: Unroll the dough carefully over a 9” pie pan, gently easing the dough into the pan, taking care not to stretch it. If needed, trim up the dough edge to a 1” overhang with a pair of scissors.
Fold the pastry overhang under to create a nice rim around the pie pan and crimp by pressing the dough in between your fingers to create flutes or pressing down with a fork.
Freeze for at least 30 minutes until firm.
Place the oven rack in the lowest position and preheat to 425°F.
Line the chilled pie shell with a piece of parchment or foil and fill with pie weights, dried beans or raw rice to weigh it down during baking.
Bake the frozen pie shell for 30 minutes until just lightly golden. Reduce the oven to 375°F. Carefully remove the parchment and pie weights. Let rest while you make the filing.
For the filling: in a medium bowl, mix the eggs, cream, milk, parmesan, salt, pepper and half of the basil pesto until thoroughly combined.
Pour the filling into the parbaked crust then sprinkle in the asparagus pieces and tomatoes, cut side up.
Gently spoon small bits of the remaining half of pesto around the filled pie. Carefully slide the pan back into the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes until custard is just set (it should wiggle ever so slightly in the middle) and crust is golden brown.
Let cool for at least 15 minutes then garnish with grated parmesan. The quiche is delicious warm but also very good at room temperature and it reheats beautifully in a 350°F oven.

Chef’s Tips

The best way to trim the tough woody ends off asparagus is the bend and snap. Hold the asparagus toward the bottom, bend and snap where it naturally breaks. Easy.
While par baking with pie weights is the best way to prevent the crust from slumping in the pan, if you don’t have weights or don’t want to mess with them, freeze the pie crust in the pan overnight until firmly frozen and bake according to the directions.
Baked quiche freezes great. Wrap any leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store for u to 1 month in the freezer. To reheat, bake in a 350ºF oven right from the freezer until hot and crispy, about 20 minutes.