This is loosely based on the quiche au fromage recipe Julia Child provides in her The French Chef Cookbook made to accompany her original TVshow. I have no doubt that Julia’s would be better, but this is easy and quite reliable.
Ingredients:
pie crust dough for a single crust (this can be homemade from any recipe you like that is no sweet, or store bought–Pillsbury’s ready to use pie crust in the refrigerator case of the supermarket works)
5 large eggs (you can flex to 4 or 6 if they seem particularly large or small, or if your pie pan is unusually shallow or deep)
1 1/2 cups whole milk (you can substitute half-and-half or light cream for 1/2 cup of the milk if you want a richer quiche)
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (Swiss can be substituted if you prefer)
for Lorraine: 3 slices or so of cooked bacon, ham cut into small dice, or prosciutto shredded, sauteed onions are also good
1/2 t. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
pinch of nutmeg
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Roll out the dough thinly and place in a 9″ pie pan creating a decorative crust by folding under the edge and using your finger or a fork to create a pattern.
- Poke the bottom of the crust lightly with the tines of a fork (to help keep it from swelling up too much) and then line the crust with either parchment paper or aluminum foil and weight it down using pie weights or dried beans or rice.
- Place the crust in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until it is lightly brown.
- Remove the parchment or foil along with the weights/beans/rice, if the bottom still seems too uncooked, leave the crust in the turned off oven for another 5 or so minutes to cook a bit more. (This can be done several hours in advance of cooking the quiche and should be done far enough in advance to at least allow the crust to cool to room temperature before proceeding if at all possible).
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- Spread half of the cheese on the bottom of the par-baked pie crust.
- Add the bacon/ham/prosciutto and sauteed onions, if using.
- Place the pie pan onto a baking sheet to catch any drips if you wish (not required but it helps if the quiche leaks).
- Slowly pour the egg and milk mixture over the ingredient(s) in the bottom of the crust.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the egg-milk mixture.
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on whether your oven runs hot. You will know the quiche is done when there is only a little jiggle left in the center when the pie pan is lightly shaken. Check the quiche half-way through and if the edge of the crust is becoming too brown, cover with a circle of foil with the middle cut out. At that time also turn the quiche so it browns evenly.
- Once cooked, let the quiche rest for at least 15 minutes and up to a half hour before serving (more if you like quiche at room temperature).
cooking for my daughters 