Hash Brown, Egg & Cheese Pie

Yes it does look like a slice of pie – but a savory one!  I had to laugh when I realized the first recipe I’m posting after completing the 52 pie project, is an egg pie.  Maybe I do need to find someone who can tell me why I love my food cut in wedges!  I guarantee the next recipe will look nothing like pie!  Unless you count the pie recap and video I’m working on for Monday.  Maybe I should have cooked this in a square pan.  Oh for crying out loud – this is delicious!  I don’t think it matters if it’s cut in squares or wedges.  We are thrilled with the results.

Sometimes I think about what we have left in the fridge and start to come up with an idea for a new recipe.  Then I often conduct research and find my idea is not completely original (original to me but not to the world).  This is one of those confirmation recipes.  We had my sister-in-law’s hash brown casserole for Christmas and had a package of potatoes left over.  We had plenty of cheese, ham, onion and eggs.  I also had some frozen Oven Roasted Tomatoes we made this summer.  All that can fit in a pie can’t it?

This recipe can be altered easily to adapt to your own ingredients.  You could substitute green or red peppers for the oven roasted tomatoes, and any kind of cheese would be terrific.  I used a combination of Fontina and cheddar cheese, a green onion, some diced purple onion, ham, tomatoes, eggs, pepper, hash brown potatoes and half & half.

Grate the cheese and dice the tomatoes, ham, purple onion and green onions.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate with Pam.  Press the potatoes in the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate – forming a crust.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture is set and starting to brown.

While the crust is in the oven, combine the milk (or half & half), eggs, salt and pepper.  Whisk until well blended.

Add the chopped tomatoes, half the green onions, chopped ham and any other vegetables you desire.  (Mushrooms would be good too – yum!)

Remove the hash brown crust from the oven and sprinkle with 1/2 the grated cheese or the Fontina if using both kinds.

Gently pour the egg mixture over the crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the middle is set and the hash browns are toasted around the edges.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and allow the pie to set for 10 minutes before serving.

This was a very satisfying weeknight dinner with tons of flavor.