Inspiration for this recipe comes from the “Ohio Celebrity Cookbook,” a 1978 publication put out by the Ohio division of the American Cancer Society. This lovely little spiral-bound cookbook intersperses biographies of famous Ohioans (like Annie Oakley, James Thurber and Paul Laurence Dunbar) with recipes submitted from across the state AND Ohio fun facts!
I was immediately drawn to two recipes in the Cheese and Eggs section, Onion Swiss Pie and Swiss Cheese Pie, because I’m a sucker for savory pies and cheese pies sounded pretty fabulous. I was going to make the Swiss Cheese Pie but I ended up mashing the two recipes together, because I happened to have some smoked bacon from Thurn’s Specialty Meats on hand.
In working through the recipes, I quickly realized these cheese pies are really very similar to a quiche. This technique uses sour cream in place of the the usual milk or cream, and I liked that it tasted more meaty rather than eggy. I used a store-bought pie crust for an easy weeknight dinner, but you could of course make your own favorite pie crust from scratch.
One of the original recipes states: “Very good for brunch or lunch.” I concur.
Smoked Bacon & Swiss Pie
- 1 pie crust
- 6 slices smoked bacon
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups Gruyere, shredded
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh basil, sage or your favorite herb
Directions
Cook bacon until crisp and crumble into pan. Saute onion in 2 tablespoons bacon grease. Combine Swiss cheese, 1 cup Gruyere, sour cream, eggs and pepper. Stir in bacon and onion, and pour mixture into crust. Bake in 375 oven for 30 minutes. Top with remaining Gruyere and return to oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped basil for garnish. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
Adapted from “Ohio Celebrity Cookbook”
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