Ham and Cheese Quiche

It's that time of year for End of the Year Luncheon's and what is more fitting, or easy, than a quiche? This is literally the easiest thing you can throw together the morning of a brunch or luncheon. True, I use a store bought pie crust, but that is primarily because I don't keep shortening in my house and most good crust recipes call for cutting in shortening. Hey, at least the homemade version is not any more healthy for you than the store-bought, unlike many of its processed counterparts. On to the recipe:

Ham and Cheese Quiche

1 pre-made pie shell (in your grocer’s freezer) 

5 jumbo eggs (or 6 large eggs) 

1 1/4 cups heavy cream 

1 cup diced ham (from the deli section) 

1/4 cup diced onion 

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese 

Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Take the pie shell out of the freezer. 

Sauté onions with ham over medium heat in a a skillet with a drizzle of canola oil, for about 5 minutes. Add the thyme and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs and heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Make sure the mixture is well combined. Shred the cheese into the bottom of the pie shell. Pour sauted ham and onions on top of the cheese and spread out evenly across the pie shell. Pour the egg mixture over the top (careful not to overfill it, better to leave a bit behind than have it overrun in your oven). 

Bake 35-45 minutes until set and lightly browned on top. (When you take the quiche out of the oven, the middle of the pie should not jiggle).