Cheesy Asparagus Quiche

I love making pastry now. I use Nigella's method in How to Eat for plain pastry dough, and my confidence increases each time I make it!

Now that I have a tart pan smaller than my pie dish, I really wanted to give making quiche a go, since I am still not that great about rolling it out thin enough to cover the entire pie dish bottom. I have a big bundle of asparagus now, getting it at a great price at the grocery store. I've never made an asparagus quiche, so it seemed like a perfect time to try it.

I prepared the pastry and lined the tart pan the night before so I could quickly make the filling for a lovely lunch. The filling is quite basic and easy. Light (single) cream or half and half (about 3/4 cup) with two beaten eggs, salt and pepper.

I had about a cup of grated cheddar cheese, and used a small handful to line the bottom of the quiche. I then added some parboiled asparagus spears on top, and then the filling went on top with the cheddar cheese.

It took about 45 minutes in a moderate oven for the top to start browning. I had noticed, though, that the pastry had not colored that much. I think it has to do with the pan, as when I use my glass pie dish, the pastry browns no problem. I know a lot of people blind bake pastry dough, and I never really have, but I think I will from now on when using this particular tart pan.

This was a lovely quiche... the asparagus tender, the filling cheesy and delicious. I quite like the combination of cheddar and asparagus. The pastry, although not browned, was lovely and flaky. Making pastry feels so rewarding for some reason, like making bread, and I want to make it all the time, but I have to remember that there is about half a stick of butter in each pastry shell I make. So, I guess I can't make pastry every day. It's so easy, though, which makes it quite tempting to make all the time.