Hashbrown-Crusted California Quiche with Avocado Roses

I'll admit it: I'm a notorious breakfast-skipper, which makes me seem like maybe not the most likely person to recommend recipes meant to be eaten in the AM hours. However, on the occasions when I decide that a cup of coffee on its own won't suffice, I'm your go-to morning meal girl. I go all out.

Case in point, this Hashbrown-Crusted California Quiche with Avocado Roses. I'd like to thank all of my fellow Instagram-addicts for the inspiration-- your billions of documented brunches, avocado rose toasts, and California-style sandwiches have had me drooling non-stop for months. Naturally, I decided to combine them all. I mean, you know me. Is that really surprising?

The components of a California sandwich can vary depending on who you ask, but they almost always include tomato, sprouts, and avocado. The best ones (in my opinion) also incorporate bacon, onion, bell pepper, or monterrey jack cheese. Or even better, all of the above. And you know what all of those ingredients go great with? Eggs. Creamy, custardy eggs. You know, like the kind you'd have in a perfectly baked quiche.

Oh, and hashbrowns. Did I mention those yet?

So, typically, the eggy portion of a quiche is contained by a pie crust, but I wanted to kick it up a notch so I swapped out premade pie crust for frozen hashbrowns! All you have to do is defrost the hashbrowns, mix them up with a little butter, press them into your springform pan or pie plate, and bake until lightly golden. Easy and delicious.

After the hashbrown crust is baked, I saute the bacon, onion, and bell pepper, and place them over the crust. Next comes the shredded cheese, and then I pour an eggy custard mixture over top. I could pop it in the oven just like this, but why stop there? It's all-the-more delicious with a few cherry tomatoes plopped right on top. Finally it's ready to bake until lightly browned on top.

Many recipes advise you to bake quiche just until it's set (and still pale on top!), but with the extra moisture from the veggies, cheese, and bacon in the quiche, we're able to leave it in just a little bit longer without overcooking the eggs so we get that gorgeous golden and slightly bubbly top layer. I just love it.

Did you notice that I left out the avocado and sprouts thus far? Well, those beauties are for topping.

To make avocado roses (or swirls, if you're looking at mine, which admittedly aren't super flower-like), I halve, pit, and peel a just ripe avocado, and then thinly slice it.  Okay, in the photo above I used a very ripe avocado, since that's what I had on hand. Don't you feel like it's almost impossible to get an avocado that's perfectly within in that ripeness window? Try to defeat the laws of produce and find one that is ripe, but still very firm. Otherwise the slices can smush together, which makes it difficult to shape!

After I've sliced the avocado halves up, I then. put some slight pressure on the sides of the avocado slices so that they fan out in a line. At this point, I'm able to curl one of the ends inward slowly until the whole avocado is spiraled together in a cool, rose-like shape. I was nervous to move mine when I made them the first time, but if you use a spatula to place them, you shouldn't have any trouble at all. It'll be almost as if you made them right on top of the quiche to begin with.

I like to top my avocados with some crushed red pepper flakes and surround them with some sprouts before digging in. The little touches really bring the whole Hashbrown-Crusted California Quiche with Avocado Roses together.

And then it's time to eat! ... Almost. There's just one more thing: If you're a heat-freak like me and your favorite way to eat eggs is when they're loaded up with hot sauce, then this is the time to do it. I recently participated in a condiment exchange on reddit and received three awesome NW Elixirs hot sauces, so I'd been dying to try them out. I drizzled the chipotle one (Hott Smoke #3) on top of my quiche and it was AWESOME. Thanks again to my reddit "Santa" for sending it to me! You're seriously the coolest. 🌶 😎

I told you I go all-out when I actually decide to make breakfast, didn't I?

This Hashbrown-Crusted California Quiche with Avocado Roses isn't just great for breakfast, though. It's perfect for your next Sunday brunch, Fall picnic, or even family dinner. You could really make it any time of day or for any occasion-- just make sure you take a photo before you eat! Tag #hostthetoast on Instagram and it will show up on the You Made It page. I bet your avocado roses will be gorgeous. (And delicious.)

Hashbrown-Crusted California Quiche with Avocado Roses

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• Author: Morgan
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 6-8 1x

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Description

Adapted from Recipe Tin Eats

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the Hashbrown Crust:

• 4 cups frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
• 3 tabelspoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• Olive oil spray

For the Filling:

• ½ tablespoon butter
• 8 ounces bacon, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese
• 2 large eggs + 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• ¾ cup cream
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• 12-15 cherry tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• Drizzle of lemon or lime juice
• 1 handful of sprouts
• Red pepper flakes
• Hot sauce, if desired

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter a 9" springform pan. * Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe dish.
2. Place the thawed hashbrowns in a large bowl. Toss with the melted butter, and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.
3. Press the hashbrowns into an even layer on the bottom of the dish and up the sides. You want to be sure that it's firmly and evenly packed together. Spray with olive oil spray and bake the crust until lightly golden, about 30 minutes.
4. As the crust bakes, prepare the filling. Melt ½ tablespoon of butter in a pan over medium-high heat.
5. Add the onion, bell pepper, and bacon into the pan. Saute until the onion is translucent and the bacon is lightly cooked but not yet crispy. Set aside to cool.
6. Combine the 2 eggs and egg yolks, milk, cream, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Whisk until well-combined.
7. Pour off any excess grease from the bacon mixture, and blot lightly with a paper towel to absorb extra moisture. Evenly layer the bacon mixture on top of the hashbrown crust base. Then, sprinkle over the monterrey jack cheese.
8. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Top with cherry tomatoes.
9. Place the quiche back in the oven and lower the heat to 350°F.
10. Bake until golden and set, about 40 minutes to 1 hour.
11. Let the quiche for 5 minutes. As it rests, prepare the avocado roses.
12. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and carefully peel off the skin. Place, cut-side down, onto a cutting board.
13. Thinly slice the avocado half from end to end. Then, lightly press on the sides of the avocado in order to fan out the slices into a line. Starting at one end of the line, curl the slices inward so that the avocado spirals around into a rose-like shape. Drizzle with lime or lemon juice. Repeat for the second avocado half.
14. Using a spatula, transfer the avocado roses to the top of the quiche. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and surround with sprouts.
15. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

Notes

* Note: If your springform pan does not seal tightly at the bottom, you may want to wrap the bottom with foil to avoid the egg from leaking out.

• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins