Last weekend, for Labor Day, Tom and I, Lindsey and Drew, Rusty and a whole crowd headed to Tom’s parents lake cottage for a weekend full of drinks, food, drinks, fun and drinks. Each couple was in charge of cooking a meal, and Tom and I were going to make Life Changing Chicken and Southwest Pasta salad, but we forgot the recipes, so we winged it with Hash Brown Quiche instead. We had a rectangular baking dish and just guessed at the measurements, but it came out pretty good considering. But here’s the real thing:

a paula deen recipe

3 cups, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup diced cooked bacon, crumbled (you could use sausage too, or veggies)
1/2 cup diced green onions
1 cup shredded Cheddar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Gently press the drained hash browns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible. In a 9-inch pie plate, toss the hash browns with the melted butter into the plate. Press them into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.

3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. When the hash brown crust is ready pour the egg mixture over it and return to the oven.

4. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed.

This recipe is great, because you can really play around with the ingredients. We made one with southwest hash browns and habanero cheddar cheese for dinner. Spicy and delicious!