sausage & pepper quiche

A while back, I posted a recipe for chicken&brocolli&mac&cheese...I kinda like combo meals.

When I was a kid, sausage and peppers was a staple meal for us all summer long. And moving to NJ, I will certainly be able to get good italian sausage again in a giant ring like I'm used to! Anyway, my favorite part of sausage and peppers was always having peppers and eggs the next day for lunch. So I thought to myself, why not combine the two and make a sausage and peppers quiche? I should also note--I had half and half and whole milk left after another recipe last week, and wanted to use it up. Normally quiches (the good ones at least) are made with heavy cream, so though these aren't the healthiest ingredients, they do lighten up a normally very heavy meal.

Well, luck had it that my local harris teeter had organic italian chicken sausage on sale, so I figured it was a sign. Wait a minute, sausage that isn't pork? Yeah, I know. Weird. Anyway, I'm sticking closely to my points plus, so I decided to keep it low cal for this recipe. If you changed it up to include pork, you'd need to add points. As an aside, my brother thinks its crazy to eat poultry with eggs together. I try not to think about it.

So here goes:

First, for the pie crust--this recipe makes 2 thin pie crusts each at 14 pts plus

6 tbsp butter

1 c all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

pinch salt

2-3 tbsp ice water

Cut up butter into cubes and place in the freezer till you're ready for it (at least 5 mins). Put dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse. Add butter to dry ingredients, pulse till it looks like bread crumbs. SLOWLY add water till it all forms a ball. Form ball into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Sausage & Pepper Quiche- 4 servings at ~10 pointsplus each

1 pie crust

2 tsp olive oil, divided

2 links italian sausage (I used organic chicken sausage)

1 red bell pepper sliced thin

1/2 small onion sliced thin

2 cloves garlic sliced

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (in the future, I'd add an extra 1/4 cup for no difference in points per serving)

3 eggs

6 oz half and half

2 oz whole milk

salt & pepper to taste

Roll out dough into the shape of a pie plate, add to pie plate, and prick all over with a fork. Cover in foil and fill with pie weights or beans (I use lentils). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove sausage from casings and saute in 1 tsp olive oil. Saute onions, peppers, and garlic till softened in 1 tsp olive oil. Once these three steps are done, put sausage, veggies, and cheese in the pie shell, scattering evenly. Beat the three eggs and add the liquid, salt and pepper. Mix till evenly combined and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.