Quiche Lorraine
serves 4-6

A few months ago I made quiche lorraine for my aunt and uncle. I also attempted to make the quiche crust from scratch which, I have to admit, was worth it. While it was more work to make the quiche crust, instead of seeking the help of my friend Marie Calendar, the crust was so very light, delicate and a perfect pairing to the richness (hello bacon and gruyere) of the quiche lorraine.

I love quiche because it can be 1) made ahead 2) frozen after it’s been cooked 3) reheated, eaten and used at a later date. I like having quiche in the house for quick lunches, easy dinners and weekend brunch — pair it with a salad or a simple homemade soup and you have yourself a full meal.

Should you attempt to put on your big girl pants and make the crust from scratch, you’ll want to start there because the dough will have to be made and then it will take a little nap in your cold refrigerator to make the rolling that much easier. If you choose to use a pre-made crust, ain’t no shame in that game, go for it, and skip right to the part of the recipe where I start to talk filling!

While the crust uses simple ingredients and is straightforward to make, you will need 1) a food processor and 2) baking beads or a heavy pyrex or weight (think beans) to blind bake the crust. And if you don’t know what blind baking is, don’t worry, you can still do this — I promise! A quiche crust is blind baked (partially baked until golden brown) so it will hold up (and not become mush) when the quiche filling is added.

To make the dough you’ll need to gather the following equipment and ingredients:

A round 9” pie dish
A food processor
A large rolling pin
Baking beads, a heavy Pyrex dish, beans or rice
All purpose flour
Salt
Unsalted butter
Ice water

In full disclosure I don’t love making doing from scratch, but I do love an adventure and any chance to learn or do something I’m not wholly comfortable with. I’ve conquered doughs in the past, to much success, so I talked myself into doing this because I also had the time. I did some research on quiche crusts and also looked back on pie crust recipes I’ve made and the dough for my family’s Italian Easter pie. I buckled down, focused, turned off my unwieldy cooking energy and tuned into patience. I forgot to add patience to the ingredient list above.

The process of making the quiche crust is fairly simple, adding the flour, salt and butter to a food processor fit with a steel blade and pulse it until its crumbly. Once the dough forms crumbles, add the water and mix until a ball forms. After that the dough can be wrapped and refrigerated so it’s ripe for rolling and baking.

And while that dough rests in the refrigerator, there’s no rest for you, because it’s now time to make the filling!

To make the filling you’ll need to have the below on hand:

Bacon
Shallots
Gruyere Cheese
Eggs
Half and Half or Whole Milk
Salt + fresh black pepper

Gather up your bacon, shallots and guyere cheese. While the bacon and shallots are cooking, not browning or crisping, you want these two hallmark items in your quiche to stay soft and supple — not crunchy and coarse — you can grate the gruyere cheese! Make the custard filling by combining eggs and half and half, salt and pepper. Put it all aside because, now, it’s time to get rolling the dough!

Now that the custard, bacon and cheese are prepared — you can preheat the oven and turn your attention to making the dough. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and place it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll the dough into a large round piece that is roughly 1/4” thick and 11” wide — or at least as large as the circumference of your 9” pie dish.
Once the dough has been rolled, fit it to the pie dish and mold it to conform and get ready to prepare it for the blind bake!

To blind bake the crust you’ll need to weigh it down with another oven proof heavy weight dish that can nest in the pie crust (I used another Pyrex), or you can use baking beads, rice or dried beans. Blind baking will ensure that the crust is cooked so when the wet filling is added, it will not seep through or further moisten the raw dough. Blind baking takes about 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Finally, the fun part — filling the quiche crust and getting that much closer to eating!
Start by sprinkling half of the grated gruyere cheese on the bottom of the prepared crust, then layer on the bacon. Pour the custard over the top and then top with the remaining cheese. Place the quiche in the oven and, voila, 45 minutes later you’ll have your savory, delicious and satisfying meal. I served this for dinner one evening with potato leek soup and it was a little hit!

Quiche Lorraine
*serves 4-6

Dough Ingredients
*Gotta make this quick and you’re not up for the homemade crust challenge? I don’t blame you, you can use 1 x deep dish pie crust— recommended Marie Callender’s

1 1/4 cups of All Purpose Flour
5 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/4 cup of ice water, possibly more as needed

Quiche Lorraine Filling Ingredients
8 oz of high quality, nitrate free, bacon— it’s worth the cost for health purposes and taste— and cut into small piece (pro-tip: use a scissor, it’s faster!)
A pat of salted butter
1 small white or red onion, finely diced
4 eggs
1 cup of half and half
3/4 cup of Gruyere cheese, thickly grated

Dough Instructions
—In the bowl of a food processor, fit with its steel blade, add flour and salt— pulsing to combine
—Add cold butter and pulse until a crumble forms, you’ll notice the butter adhering in pea sized little clumps to the flour; this is what you want to see
—Next, add 1/2 the amount of water to start; then pulse until the flour, butter and water begin to form a dough, add the remaining water and continue to pulse until the dough forms into a ball
—Lightly flour a clean surface (cutting board, countertop or table) and place the ball of dough there
—Flatten the dough, prepare a piece of plastic wrap and place around the dough, wrapping it tightly
—Place the plastic wrapped dough in the refrigerator for at least 30-45, this will make it easier to roll and handle
—In the meantime, start making the quiche filling

Instructions for the Quiche Lorraine Filling
—Grab a medium sized non-stick pan and place it over a medium low flame
—Add the cut bacon and cook until fully done, NOT CRSIPY … don’t get tempted
—Prepare a plate or bowl with paper towel
—Once the bacon is done cooking, NOT CRISPING, gently place it on your prepared dish with the paper towel to allow the oil to absorb
—Drain some of the bacon fat/oil from the pan and place over a medium low flame once again
—Add the diced onions and cook until translucent and fragrant, NOT CRISPY
—In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and half and half with 2 teaspoons of salt and freshly ground black pepper
—Whisk in 1/3 of the cheese and put aside

Instructions for Blind Baking the Dough
—Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
—Remove the dough from the refrigerator
—Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it’s a little bit wider than your 9” pie dish
—Wrap the dough around the rolling pin (you’ll feel like a pastry chef), place the rolling pin on top of the pie dish and fit it to the dish, pressing it in— it’s ok if the dough goes over the edge of the dish, it can easily be trimmed or crimped around to form a pretty crust
—Line the top of the dough with parchment paper or foil will even do
—Place another dish or baking beads/weights (dried beans or rice work too) on top of the parchment or foil, place in the oven and begin blind baking the crust for 20 minutes
—Take the crust out of the oven and carefully remove the baking dish or beads— ain’t nobody want to burn themselves at this point! You’ve come so far!
—Place the crust BACK in the over and quickly bake again for another 10 minutes or so until the base is light golden – this will really ensure your quiche crust base stays nice and crisp once filled
—Remove from the oven, place on a heat proof surface and prepare to fill!

Quiche assembly
—Increase the oven temp to 375 degrees
—Remove your 9” deep dish pie shell from the freezer OR USE YOUR HOMEMADE CRUST!
—Layer the bottom with 1/3 of the gruyere cheese!
—Load the onions and bacon on top!
—Pour the egg custard over the top of the cheese, bacon and onions so it’s evenly distributed and covering all of the goodies
—Finally, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of Gruyere cheese on top
—Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until the edges of the pie crust are brown and the middle of the quiche is just set (no jiggling: solid, yet still soft, like my belly)
—Serve alongside soup, a hearty salad or on it’s own … Quiche Lorraine is a standalone meal of decadence and deliciousness