Sweet Onion Pie

A delicious savory pie from The Times-Picayune. Reasonably healthy when coupled with a nice salad or bag of crunchy vegies, this is a good source of economical protein that tastes great. Excellent warm & at room temp. Travels well for picnics & potlucks. I like cutting into 6 slices & wrapping each one in Saran wrap & putting back into pan for knoshing on the boat. Scattering 2 to 3 inch chives tips across the pie before baking is very pretty.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Yields: 1 pie

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch)  pie pastry
• 6  slices bacon
• 2 1⁄2 cups sweet onions, chopped
• 1  cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4  large eggs
• 13  ounces evaporated milk
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄8 teaspoon  hot sauce

Directions

1. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and prick the pastry again. Return to the oven and bake until it is lightly brown. Remove and cool.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
3. In a skillet, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings in the skillet. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Cook the onions in the drippings over medium heat, stirring until soft and lightly golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels and spoon into the pie shell. Sprinkle with the bacon and cheese.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, then add the milk, salt, paprika and hot sauce. Mix well. Pour into the pie shell over the onion mixture. Bake until the mixture sets, about 1 hour. Remove and let stand for about 5 minutes before slicing to serve.