Asparagus and Pancetta Quiche

We sure have enjoyed asparagus several times and continued to get it each week from the farmers market. We steamed it. We roasted it. We put it in pastas. I wanted to try something different and since I also had some extra homemade pastry, I decided to make a quiche. I referenced the Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe for Asparagus, Leek and Gruyere Quiche, but adapted it a little by adding pancetta and I used scallions instead of leeks.

 

I took off the tough bottom of the asparagus spears, cut it on a diagonal in small pieces and sauteed it with the pancetta, garlic and onion. I could have stopped here...it smelled so wonderful.

I rolled out my pastry and placed the asparagus mixture in the crust on top of a layer of Gruyere cheese.

I mixed the egg and 1/2 and 1/2 together to pour on top of the asparagus mixture.

After baking for about an hour (and wonderful smells wafting through the house), our quiche was ready to take to our picnic in the park. 

Rustic Cherry Pie

I had made some appetizers recently with puff pastry and I had an extra piece to use (along with a craving for something sweet). I have made my own puff pastry before, but the store bough frozen puff pastry is so incredibly easy in a pinch. I also had some frozen cherries to use. I started with the idea to make little cherry hand pies and ended up just folding it into one simple rustic cherry pie by folding the edges in. I simply rolled out the thawed puff pastry sheet on flour, made the cherry filling to place in the center and folded the edges in.  I brushed the top with butter and sprinkled it with some sugar. I would prefer using fresh cherries or other fruit, but this was a great way to use up the pastry and frozen fruit and will be an easy go-to dessert option for at home or to take to a dinner party.

It was a lovely spring day and we had all the windows open in the house. While we enjoyed our roast chicken sunday dinner, I displayed the pie in the window sill. This is not always how our weekends go, but we had a particularly wonderful meal planned and it was a relaxing day. We went to the market in the morning also and I decorated many other window sills with poppies and tulips.

Recipe for Rustic Cherry Pie

Ingredients:

One sheet of puff pastry

Melted butter to brush on top

Sugar to sprinkle on top

Cherry filling:

2-3 cups pitted cherries (fresh or frozen)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 T. cornstarch

1T. fresh lemon juice 

Directions:

Roll out the puff pastry sheet on a floured surface. Mix cherry filling in a bowl. Spoon into the middle of the pastry.  Put a few pats of butter on top of the filling.  Fold the edges of the pastry in and pinch to hold. Brush the top of the pastry with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.