Sausage and Apple Quiche

This is the best thing I've ever made. I saw this recipe in an expensive cookbook twenty years ago and had to have it, so I bought the book.

Ingredients
1 (9”) pastry shell
(I use the pre-made frozen ones, mostly thawed out at prep time.)
1/2lb. spicy pork sausage (I like the savory sage, I think it’s Bob Evans)
½ cup chopped onion
¾ cup peeled shredded green apples (lotsa work, but worth the effort)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 ½ cups half and half
¼ teaspoon salt
ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
1. Crumble sausage into large skillet; add onion. Cook over medium heat until meat is browed and onion is tender. Spoon off and discard pan drippings.
2. Add apple, lemon juice, sugar, and red pepper. Cook on medium-high, stirring constantly, 4 minutes or until apple is just tender and all liquid is evaporated. Let cool. (If you get impatient, the hot stuff melts the piecrust. Wait…have a Mimosa or something)
3. Spoon sausage mixture into pastry shell; top with cheese. Whisk eggs, half and half, salt, and a dash of black pepper in medium bowl. Pour over sausage mixture. (Go slow and let it settle down in the mixture, displacing the air pockets.)
4. Bake 35-45 minutes or until filling is puffed and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it stand 10 minutes, if you can, before cutting.

Makes 6 servings if you have company, 4 if it’s just the two of you!
I usually make two since the frozen pie crusts come in pairs. Then you have breakfast for days.