Sausage-Green Chile Quiche

Brunch is my favorite meal.

It's the best of both worlds.

It's breakfast enough to eat things like omeletes, pancakes, hashbrown casserole, and fruit. 

Yet it's still lunch enough to finish it off with something like a chocolate tart.

Quiche is one of my favorite things to have for brunch.  Or breakfast.  Or lunch.  Or dinner, for that matter.

Quiche is sort of like an omelete with a crust.  Or a frittata in a pastry.  It's just delicious.

My husband used to subscribe to the belief that real men don't eat quiche.  Over the years, he has changed his opinion.

I mean, what man wouldn't like eggs, sausage, green chiles, and cheese in a flaky crust?  This quiche is basically a savory Mexican pie.  There's just nothing girlie about it.

So we'll start with the pie crust.  I use Pillsbury pie crust because it tastes like homemade.  Now, normally I have no problem with generic products, but this is one exception.  Definitely be sure to get Pillsbury. 

As an aside, Pillsbury comes with two individually-packaged pie crusts in each box.  If you only need one crust, freeze the other one just as packaged.  It will stay nice and fresh until you need it later.

The trick is to sit the crust on the counter until it comes to room temperature - a good half hour or so.  The result is flaky and delicious - everything a homemade pie crust should be.  Your friends will think you made your crust from scratch.

Normally I advocate honesty.  But in this situation, it's okay to just smile and say "thank you" when your friends say, "This crust is delicious!  You must have made it from scratch!"

Take a pie plate and spray it with cooking spray.  You'll need a deep-dish 9" pie plate for this.  That's just a normal pie plate - just make sure it's not a shallow one.  My mom says it's not necessary to spray because there is no way that the crust will stick.  But I cannot control my compulsion to spray every dish in which I bake.

To spray, or not to spray: that is the question.

Now lay the pie crust in and crimp the edges with your fingers.  My mom's crimped crusts always look better than mine.  Say "crimped crust" three times fast.

You won't need to stretch the crust to fit your dish and, as a matter of fact, please don't stretch the crust because it will shrink back to its original size while it bakes and that will do strange things to your quiche.

Now let's start on the filling.

Take a half pound of turkey sausage. 

And brown it up.  Crumble it well while you brown it.  We want little pieces of sausage, not hunks of sausage.

When it's brown and crumbled, take it off the heat and drain it on a paper towel-lined plate. 

Now back to the crust.  Take an 8-ounce package of finely shredded Mexican blend cheese and spread it evenly on top of the crust.

Just wike dis.  Bear with me.  Sometimes I lapse into Big-Sister-speak.  I'll come out of it soon.

Now sprinkle the turkey sausage on top.

Now we're going to cheese the sausage on top, too. 

We're making a nice resting place for the sausage.  It is encompassed on all sides by cheese.

Yum.

So for the top layer of cheese, we're going to use pepper jack cheese.  Get an 8-ounce block and shred it yourself.  You'll be glad you did.  Spread it evenly on top of the sausage.

In case you're counting, we're up to a full pound of cheese.

Now that I said that, no one is going to make this recipe, are they?  Maybe the faithful few will.  That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.

Now let's make the egg mixture to pour on top.  Here's what we need:

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.  We actually are going to pour half-and-half on top of a pound of cheese held by a flaky pastry. 

Told you men love this.  And now you know why.

Take a bowl and crack four eggs into it.  Pour in some half-and-half and two cans of green chiles.  Whisk it up.  Add some salt and pepper.

Now pour it on top of the quiche.

Bake it on 375 degrees.  This quiche is so dense and cheesy that it will need to bake for bake for about 50 minutes an hour.

It will come out puffed and golden and gorgeous.  You'll just have to imagine its gorgeousness because I forgot to photograph it.

Story of my life.

This is an awesome (and filling!) breakfast with some mini-muffins and fresh berries.  Or serve it for lunch with a nice green salad.  And if you have it for brunch, make a chocolate tart for dessert.

Sausage-Green Chile Quiche

1 refrigerated pie crust (from a package of 2)

1/2 pound turkey breakfast sausage, browned, crumbled and drained

8 oz. package finely-shredded Mexican blend cheese

8 oz. block of pepper jack cheese, shredded

4 eggs

2 4-oz cans chopped green chiles

1 cup half-and-half

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Allow the pie crust to come to room temperature (about 30 minutes on the counter).  Fit the pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate and crimp the edges.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, green chiles, half-and-half, salt and pepper.

Spread the bag of Mexican blend cheese on top of the pie crust.  Sprinkle the cooked sausage on top of the cheese.  Spread the pepper jack cheese on top of the sausage.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the quiche.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 50 minutes to an hour.  When it is done, the top will be golden brown.  Stick a knife down in the middle to make sure the egg is cooked through.

Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing into wedges.