Parma Primavera Pie

[izumikonomu]

So, I finally managed to catch that movie Waitress, with Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion (from Firefly), and it got me in a pie-making mood.  So, that, coupled with the fact that Kyle made me read Bone a while back, which makes heavy references to the culinary masterpiece that is quiche, resulted in this recipe.  All the pies in the movie had cutesy names--this one refers to the prosciutto and asparagus used in it--the latter being my favorite spring vegetable.  I used half-and-half when I invented it, but if you're not worried about calories, cream would be lovely.  And, at the time, I used Emmentaler cheese, but now I wonder if Fontina might not be a better choice.  It's a close cousin to Emmentaler, and it's acutally Italian, so it fits better with the other ingredients. ^_^

Parma Primavera Pie

• 1 unbaked 9-inch, deep dish piecrust
• 4 oz. (1/4 lb.) prosciutto, cubed
• 4 oz. Emmentaler or Fontina cheese, grated
• blanched asparagus (10-12 thick stalks, or 15-20 skinny ones), chopped
  
• 1/2 c. onion, minced
• 2 c. half-and-half or cream
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Saute the prosciutto and onion in a little nonstick spray, just until the proscuitto is brown and the onions translucent.  Set aside to cool.  Whisk eggs in a deep bowl, slowly whisk in half-and-half, sugar, and cayenne.  With a spoon, stir in grated cheese.  Set aside.  Toss asparagus with prosciutto and onion, then turn the mixture into the piecrust and pour in the eggs.  Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake another 10 minutes.

Now, 10 minutes was not nearly enough for my quiche to set in the middle.  But ovens differ, so that's when I'd start checking on it.  Mine took at least an additional 15 minutes, but I'd still start watching it after 10 mins. at 350, just to be on the safe side.

There will be more updates, unrelated to pie, at a later date.  There may also be photographs.  One of these may or may not be related to pie.