Sausage & Artichoke Quiche

Total time: 75 minutes
    The variations on quiche are almost infinite.  The sausage adds a lot of flavor - use any sausage you like, hot or sweet, squeezing it out of the casing to brown. Pre-cooking the rice makes it all come together quickly.

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quick-cooking brown rice
• 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock  Or 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup (4oz, 120gr) shredded cheese    I use Gruyère
• 3 eggs
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
• 8oz (250gr) sausage   turkey or pork...
• 14oz (420gr) artichoke hearts, well-drained
• 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) milk

 Instructions:

• The crust: 
• Cook brown rice in stock according to package directions.  Can be done ahead or even the night before. 
• Oil a 9" (22 cm) pie or quiche plate. 
• Lightly whisk 1 egg. 
• Add 1/4 cup of the cheese and the cooked rice.  Mix well. 
• Pat into the quiche plate, working it up the sides as best you can.  Bake in 375F (185C) oven for 10 minutes. 
• Remove and set aside. 
• Note:  If you cook rice just before using, spread it on a plate to cool for 5 minutes before adding it to the egg.
• The filling:
• Chop onion, pepper and mince garlic.
•  Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, pepper and garlic and sauté 5 minutes. 
• Add sausage and brown, breaking it up.  If you are using whole sausages, either slice thinly or remove meat from casing. 
• Add herbs. 
• Drain artichokes and slice in half.
• When meat is done spread mixture evenly over rice. 
• Arrange artichokes on top of meat.
• Sprinkle with cheese. 
• Whisk remaining 2 eggs well. 
• Add milk and whisk to combine. 
• Pour over all and bake for 45 minutes. 
• Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Note:  I put the quiche/pie plate on a pizza pan before pouring the egg/milk over.  Makes it easier to get into the oven and catches any drips and spills - saving oven clean-up.

Second note:  My sausage meat is always quite dry.  I have to add oil to brown it and there is no extra fat at the end of cooking.  If yours puts off a lot of fat, drain it before putting in the quiche.