Broccoli Rabe Quiche

We had some broccoli rabe, which I'd never tasted before, and after tasting it the first time, Ed decided that he wanted to make a quiche with it. Somehow, the whole "Ed is going to make a quiche" turned into an "Alex is making the quiche for Ed" scenario. He did cook the bacon that was to go in it, so I shouldn't complain too much. And it turned out wonderfully, as quiches almost always do.

Quiche with bacon and broccoli rabe

1-1/4C flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbs butter
2 tbs frozen bacon grease (or more butter if you don't save your bacon drippings)
2-6tbs cold water
3 eggs
1/2C milk (we used 1%)
3 pieces of bacon
~1C worth of chopped broccoli rabe
1/2 tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
~1/2C grated cheddar cheese

The crust:
In a food processor, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter in chunks, and process until the butter is all chopped up. Add the bacon grease and process that until thats in chunks, too. Add about 2 tbs of cold water, and process. Continue to add water and mix until you have a fairly dry mixture that holds together if you pinch it. Don't add too much water. Dump the pie dough onto a surface, form it into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30min.

Alternatively, buy a pre-made pie crust. But those are just so expensive when flour and butter are practically free.

The quiche

While your crust chills, dice the bacon, and cook it until it is brown and crunchy, or maybe not crunchy if you don't like crunchy bacon. I happen to like bacon to be crunchy. Take it out and drain it on some paper towels. Bowl your broccoli rabe for 5-10 minutes, until it tastes cooked.

Once your crust has chilled for 20-30min, preheat your oven to 350F. Roll out the crust so that it is a little larger than your pie pan, and put it in there. Cut off the ragged edges and dock it with a fork, then bake it for 10-15min until it is just turning golden brown. Meanwhile, mix together three eggs and half a cup of milk, and season with salt and pepper.

Once the crust is out of the oven, a lot of recipes say to brush it with an egg yolk, but that was too much work for us, so we just layered in the bacon and broccoli rabe, and poured the liquid stuff over the top. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Put the quiche back in the oven and cook for 35-40 minutes, until it is set and no longer jiggles if you jiggle that pie pan.

Let it cool at least 10 minutes before slicing into it.