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