LEMON AND ASPARAGUS QUICHE

Served with a tossed salad, a custard-filled quiche is just as good for dinner as it is for brunch or breakfast. In this spring version, the pastry crust is loaded with tender stalks of asparagus and fresh herbs, with lemon zest adding fresh citrus notes. A tart pan is ideal, but no worries if you don’t have one: I made mine in a springform pan, and it turned out fine. Because the filling is wet, it’s important to blind bake the crust so you don’t end up with a soggy bottom.

Makes: 1 quiche

For the crust:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

3 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed

1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter

2 small shallots, finely minced

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Zest from 1 lemon, preferably organic

2 large eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup minced mixed fresh herbs

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, optional

Olive oil, for brushing

1. Prepare crust: In bowl of food processor, pulse flour and salt until combined, then add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. In separate bowl, whisk together egg and yolk with ice water. Add to flour mixture and pulse until moist crumbs start to form (no longer). Form dough into a disk (or 2 disks if making 2 quiches in pie plates), cover in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.

2. After resting, let dough sit at room temperature until pliable, then roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 14-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, folding and pressing sides to an even thickness. (Or roll out 2 disks to 11-inch rounds and fit into 8- or 9-inch pie plates.)

3. Trim edge of dough flush with top of tart pan. (If using pie plates, fold edges of dough under and crimp as desired.) Wrap in plastic; freeze at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Line crust with parchment, then fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 20 minutes with a baking sheet on rack below; remove paper and beans. Let cool.

5. Reduce oven to 375 degrees.

6. Bring large skillet of salted water to a boil. Drop in asparagus and blanch for 3 minutes — or 90 seconds if you’ve got pencil asparagus (it shouldn’t be completely cooked). Drain in a colander, run under cold water and pat dry.

7. Cut off asparagus tips to make them about 3 inches long. If your asparagus is thick, slice lengthwise in half. Cut remaining stalks on the bias into slices about 1/4- to 1/2-inch wide. Wipe out the skillet.

8. Put skillet over medium heat and add butter. When it’s melted, toss in shallots and cook, stirring, just until softened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and scrape into the crust, spreading them evenly. Add lemon zest and sliced asparagus stalks.

9. Whisk eggs, cream, sour cream and herbs together in a bowl just until blended. Season with salt (about 1/4 teaspoon) and pepper, then pour into prepared crust. Arrange asparagus tips (cut-side down if you’ve halved them) in any way you like on top of the filling.

10. Bake quiche for 25-30 minutes, sprinkling on Parmesan cheese, if using, after quiche has been in the oven for 20 minutes. The quiche is done when the custard is set — a tester will come out clean — and puffed. Transfer to a rack and, if you like, brush olive oil over the top, using only enough to give it a gloss.

11. Serve quiche when it’s just warm or has come to room temperature.

— Adapted from Doriegreenspan.com

SPINACH PESTO

Tired of red sauce? Go green — and up your veggie intake — with this eye-catching bowl of spinach-pesto spaghetti. It couldn’t be easier to make; all you need is a food processor. For a different take, swap the spinach for kale, Swiss chard or ramps, if you can find them. You also can trade walnuts or almonds for the pine nuts. Here, pesto is used to dress pasta, but you also can spoon it onto pizza, tuck it into sandwiches, serve it as a dip or use it as a topping for fish or chicken.

Makes: 4 servings

For the pasta:

1 pound spaghetti or other pasta of choice

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Extra Parmesan, shaved or shredded, to serve

Baby spinach, to serve

Toasted pine nuts, to serve

For the pesto:

4 tightly packed cups baby spinach leaves

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 tightly packed cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Make pesto: Place all ingredients except oil into a food processor. Jam that spinach in, there’s a lot of it! Blitz until spinach is chopped into pesto-sized bits. Scrape sides down as needed. With motor running on low, pour oil in a thin stream. Set aside while you prepare pasta.

2. Cook spaghetti in boiling water with salt per the package directions. Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Drain spaghetti, then return to the empty pot.

3. Add a couple generous scoops of pesto to the pot with 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss well, using the extra water as needed to loosen. Add more pesto, if desired. Serve immediately while hot, or let it cool and serve at room temperature like you would a pasta salad. Either way, garnish with Parmesan, baby spinach and pine nuts.

— Recipe from “RecipeTin Eats Dinner: 150 Recipes for Fast Everyday Meals” by Nagi Maehashi