Ham and Cheese Quiche

INGREDIENTS:

1 (9-inch deep dish) pie crust, store bought or homemade*
4 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half (not fat-free)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup diced ham
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon each salt, pepper and paprika

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place oven rack in the lower third of your oven.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour over pie crust, filling to the top.

Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F, and continue baking for another 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Fruit Pizza

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE COOKIE CRUST:

• 1½ cups sugar
• 2½ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

FOR THE FROSTING:

• 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 7½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1¾ cup powdered sugar

• assorted fresh fruit cut into slices

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Beat the butter and 1½ cups sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Chill the dough.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Roll chilled dough into one big cookie and place on a round baking stone. Sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons sugar. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Let cool; chill in fridge.
3. Mix frosting ingredients together and spread on chilled cookie. Chill again to set and thicken the frosting.
4. Top with fresh fruit. Cut into slices and serve!

NOTES

We LOVED that the dough was slightly underbaked, but if that's not your thing, bake the dough for an additional 5-10 minutes.   

Shrimp Scampi

1 1/2 pounds linguine

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

5 tablespoons good olive oil

3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)

1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute.  Add the shrimp, 1 tablespoon of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, transfer pasta to large pan and toss.  Serve with parmesan cheese.