Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Quiche

I've taken a new job, and it's a little farther from home than I'm used to. Thank goodness for public transportation that allows me to ride the train every day to work. This does put me home a little later than I'm used to, so I've decided that the weekends will be my main cooking days for the week. Today, I got busy making a lot of different things, but I knew I wanted to make a quiche. My family loves frittatas, quiches and the like. I had some peppered bacon, Gruyere cheese and a couple of onions, so I went to work blending these three ingredients into a lovely quiche that we can eat during the week for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Normally, I make a quick pastry tart dough when I make my quiches, as it's easy to whip up, press into a pan and go. That's what I would recommend. But I also had some Trader Joe's pie crusts in my freezer, so I thawed one this morning while I was at church, and by the time I came home, it was ready to roll out and press into my pie shell. So, whatever way you go will work out fine. This recipe is based on Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pie recipe.

Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Quiche
Ingredients:
1 pie crust or pastry dough recipe
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tbs butter
6-8 rashers of bacon, sliced into lardons (little strips) and cooked
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
2 large or extra large eggs
1 cup half-n-half (or you could sub out lower fat milk for part of this and up the eggs to 3)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large pan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and let caramelize for about 20 minutes. Remember to keep the heat low. I add a little salt to allow the natural sugars from the onions to come out. Stir occasionally.

3. Meanwhile, cook up the lardons of bacon until they are crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. **Better make a few extra to snack on while you're cooking.**

4. Grate the Gruyere cheese.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, half-in-half and nutmeg together until combined.

6. Press the pie or pastry dough into a 9" pie pan. Put the pie pan on a half sheet pan or cookie sheet in case you have any run over. You are not going to pre-bake the pie crust.

7. Spread the bacon evenly over the bottom of the pie pan. Next, top with the caramelized onions. Top with the cheese. Then pour the egg mixture over the top.

8. Put in the oven for 35-45 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and let rest for at least an hour before serving.