Quintessential Quiche Lorraine

For many cooks, making a quiche is a big deal. As we wrote in our story about quiche, that’s not the way it’s seen in France, where it’s considered a simple, everyday dish.

That’s why when we set out to develop a recipe for classic quiche Lorraine, we wanted to keep things quick and simple as possible. In fact, even including making the crust and prepping the other ingredients, it is less than an hour of active work — and that includes clean-up, which I’m able to nearly finish just as the filled quiche is going into the oven. While it bakes (35 to 45 minutes) and rests 10 minutes or so, you can make a simple green salad, and voilà — a fabulous dinner or brunch.

Our crust is a pâte brisée (short crust) that comes together in a snap in the food processor. Because it’s made quickly and handled so little, glutens don’t have time to develop, and it stays tender, even if you don’t chill it before and after rolling it out.

The dough is easy to handle, it stays together and it’s generous enough to easily fit a deep-dish pie pan without having to roll it out too thin. If you do get a tear or bald spot once you fit it into the pan, don’t worry — you can patch it with the trimmings.

The butter needs to be chilled hard, so if it gets soft while you’re cutting it up, chill it in the fridge a few minutes before starting. If you prefer to make this crust by hand, using a pastry cutter or your fingers, it would be best to chill it 30 minutes before rolling it out.

Unlike the original quiche Lorraine, whose filling only included eggs, cream and bacon, ours also includes lightly caramelized onion. A variation at the end of the recipe offers simple instructions for adding cheese.

You’ll need a pie pan that’s 9 to 9 1/2 inches in diameter, and two inches deep.

Serves 4 - 6.

Ingredients

For the Pâte Brisée crust

180 g all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups, 6.5 ounces), plus additional for rolling the dough

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

9 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons ice water

For the quiche

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 teaspoon thyme leaves (optional)

4 or 5 slices bacon, thick-cut or regular (6 - 7 ounces)

6 large eggs

1 2/3 cup heavy cream

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400 F, with the rack in the center of the oven. Make the pâte brisée: Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse (for one second each pulse) about 8 or 9 times — until the mixture resembles coarse meal and there are no big pieces of butter.

2. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture, then process continuously until the mixture forms a ball. It will take about 15 to 25 seconds and happen all of a sudden. Lightly flour a work surface, remove the ball of dough from the food processor and press it into a thick, round, flat disc.

3. Place the disc on the work surface and, working quickly, roll it into a large round 1/8-inch thick. Fold the sheet gently into quarters or drape it around the rolling pin, and transfer it to a deep 9 to 9-12 inch pie pan. Ease the dough gently into the corners of the pan; you don’t want to stretch the dough at all or it will shrink when baked. Trim the circumference so you have about a 1 1/2 inch overhang, then fold the overhang under (leaving about a 3/4 inch overhang) and crimp the edges. Line the shell with aluminum foil, fill it with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the foil and weights and set the shell aside to cool briefly. Turn down the oven to 375 degrees.

4. While the shell is blind-baking, prepare the onions. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauté pan, add the onions, stir to coat with the oil, and stir in the thyme (if using). Lower the heat to the low side of medium-low, and cook slowly, stirring somewhere between occasionally and frequently, until they are lightly caramelized, and just starting to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Once the shell is cooling and while the onions are caramelizing, cook the bacon. Line a rimmed sheet pan with a Silpat if you like (it’s not necessary), lay the bacon strips on the sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the bacon), until the fat is mostly rendered but the bacon is not yet crisp. Remove from the oven, drain the bacon briefly on paper towels, and cut it into smallish bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Raise the oven heat to 400 degrees.

6. Make the batter: Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Add the cream, salt and white pepper and whisk well again, until the mixture is light and uniform.

7. Now we’ll assemble the quiche. Scatter half the caramelized onions in the bottom of the pie shell (I use my fingers, so it’s easier to distribute them evenly). Scatter half the bacon pieces on top of them, then pour half the batter over all. Scatter the rest of the onions on top of the batter (it’s OK if it falls down into it), followed by the bacon, then pour the remaining batter on top. Place the filled shell on a baking sheet and bake until the center is set (jiggle the pan; when it doesn’t look jiggly, it’s set), and the top is golden-brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. (I always start checking after 30 minutes.) If you take it out when it is just set, the center of the quiche will be a little more custardy than the edges; if you like it more cooked in the center, leave it in another 5 minutes or so, till the center puffs up a bit like the edges. Remove from the oven and set the quiche on a rack to cool slightly for 10 minutes. Serve immediately, or eat later slightly warm or at room temperature.

Variation: Quintessential Quiche Lorraine with Cheese

If you’d like to include cheese, grate 2 1/2 ounces of Gruyère, Comté or Emmethaler on box grater. When forming the layers, sprinkle half the grated cheese on the first layer of onions and bacon, and the rest of the cheese on the second layer of onions and bacon. Otherwise follow the recipe as written.