Public Service Announcement of the day.
Do not write ‘quiche’ quickly and haphazardly on a napkin and place it on the break room table without proofreading it and ensuring that it doesn’t look like ‘quickie’.
For there is a quiche in the fridge, not a quickie. Incase there was some confusion. In which case there was because I am among some pretty gutter brained individuals, making me feel right at home with my non-ladylike thinking brain and giant outbursts of cackles and snorts at the slightest of hints of a possible misinterpretation. I teeter between acting 12 and 87.
Baking a quiche for a Saturday afternoon lunch drops me close to my actual age. 30-somethings (OH! Heavens! I am a 30-something!) make quiche, right?
I tried waiting and making it for brunch, but I am ravenously hungry when I wake up and there was just no stopping me from eating my Chobani lime yogurt – which is totally the bomb diggity. I apologize to the person who tries to get between me and my breakfast.
If you invite me to a brunch and it is beyond 15 minutes after I roll out of bed…I will have eaten before showing up or eat whatever is in your fridge or on your counters as I wait for you to finish tying your shoes as we are walking out the door. I will also have had a cup or two of coffee. I will hold off on the mimosas and the bloody mary and gladly drink away a Sunday afternoon with you, but brunch wasn’t meant for my stomach or my severe caffeine addiction.
This bacon, leek, and roasted red pepper quiche never made it to a brunch. But it shined ever so brightly for lunch and dinner and breakfast the following morning.
That is right, I ate quiche for 2 days straight. Paired with a salad…it’s almost healthy, which come the weekend – it is all I can muster. Almost healthy.
Quiche = eggy filling (with mix-ins) in a pastry buttery flaky crust. We need a crust!
I totally get it if you prefer to buy a pre made crust for the sake of time and mental stability, but then again I don’t. There is nothing like mastering a crust. Sure you will flop a few times and it’ll be less flaky and more tough than intended – that is the learning curve. FYI – people will still eat the quiche. Keep practicing. Keep going. And make it when the humidity is low.
I like to get everything nice and cold and in order ensuring I have everything necessary.
First…ice cold butter chunks into flour and salt.
Dice cold butter and then let it sit in the freezer for 15 minutes. We are talking COLD butter.
Right into the flour. Give it a toss to coat and then start breaking it down with your fingertips (or pastry blender or food processor) until it reaches pea sized bits – some bits may be bigger, some smaller – you get the idea.
Whisk together your egg yolk and buttermilk. Buttermilk adds such flavor and the egg yolk makes the crust tender and rich.
Dig a well into your flour and butter and pour in the buttermilk and egg.
Buttermilk reservoir.
And then you will stir the flour into the buttermilk pond until a shaggy dough begins to form. Keep a few tablespoonfuls of buttermilk at the ready just in case your dough is a touch dry…add small bits only as necessary.
Empty it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just a few times to bring the dough together….
Form into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to an hour. The dough will have time to rest and allow the moisture from the buttermilk and egg to spread throughout the dough and it lets the butter get nice and cold again = flaky crust!
When the dough is resting…it is time to give the filling a bit of love and affection.
Leeks. Chop off the Fraggle Rock tops and slice lengthwise down the center. Lay flat side down and slice into thin half moons.
I bet you are thinking…gah! don’t you need to rinse out the sand and you would be right…I like to rinse after they are sliced.
Bacon. Thick cut.
A single roasted red pepper. Canned is perfectly alright…unless you enjoy roasting your own…then be my guest.
Use what you have on hand.
Just make sure you get the canned version as dry as possible.
You will need to fry the bacon first. And then hide it from yourself or you will just have a leek and roasted red pepper quiche.
I can almost smell that picture.
Leeks and roasted red pepper get sautéed in a bit of the bacon drippings.
This is called ‘doing it right’.
Ok, so we have the bacon and vegetables all cooked up resting and coming to room temperature. We gotta switch gears and return focus onto the crust.
Roll it out until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Fit it into a 10 inch pie plate and patch any holes and splits with excess dough hanging over the edges.
Fold under the edges and crimp with thumb and pointer of left hand and the pointer of your right hand. Or whatever way you were taught. It all comes out good in the end.
We are gonna blind bake this sucker. Which means you will need some dry beans or pie weights and parchment paper or tinfoil. Totally removes any chance of soggy crust.
And while it cools for a bit…its egg and cheese time!
I used a mixture of KerryGold Cheeses. Swiss cheese and sweet cheddar.
Eggs, heavy cream, and whole milk.
Definitely eat this with salad….
whip just the eggs…
can I pat myself on the back? I didn’t drop the camera into the egg bowl as I whisked with my right hand and shot with my left…
sometimes I just need extra hands or help when it comes to shooting.
whisk in the dairy.
Now we have all the components ready.
Pre-baked crust. Check.
Sautéed leeks and roasted red peppers. Check.
Grated cheese. Check.
Bacon. Check.
Whisked dairy. Check.
Half the cheese on bottom…
Bacon. All of it.
Minus a good 10 pieces.
On goes the sautéed veggies.
Layer on the final half of cheese.
Pour over the dairy and egg mixture.
Bake. Until puffy and set.
And boom! QUICHE!
This was the creamiest and smoothest quiche I have made to date. I think the quality of cheese made such a difference and the fact that I whipped the hell out of that milk/cream/eggs.
- Crust
- 1+1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 Cup Butter, cold and diced
- 1/4 Cup Buttermilk (plus a few extra tablespoons just incase)
- 1 egg yolk
- Filling
- 2 Small Leeks, thinly sliced into half moons (about 1 cup)
- 6 Slices Thick Cut Bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch bits
- 1 Roasted Red Pepper, dried and diced
- 2 Cups Shredded Cheese (swiss and sweet cheddar)
- 3 Large Whole Eggs
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
- Salt and Pepper to taste.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Add diced butter and toss to coat. With fingertips or pastry blender (or food processor) break butter down into flour until butter is pea sized. If butter becomes too soft, just place in freezer for a few minutes and then return to working.
- In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg.
- Create a well in the middle of the flour/butter mixture and pour in buttermilk/egg. With a fork, bring flour into the buttermilk/egg and stir until dough begins to form. Empty contents out onto a clean work surface and knead dough a few times to form a shaggy ball of dough. Keep a few tablespoonfuls of buttermilk on standby just incase the dough is too dry. Add small bits just if necessary. Shape dough into a round flattened disk and wrap with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Remove dough from fridge and on a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Transfer dough to a 10 inch pie plate. Patch any holes or tears in crust with excess dough. Tuck extra dough under itself and crimp edges. Place in freezer for 15 minutes.
- Fit a large piece of parchment paper/tinfoil into frozen pie shell and fill pie shell with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and carefully remove parchment paper/tinfoil and pie weights/dried beans, set aside to cool. With the tines of a fork, poke the bottom of the crust a few times. Place back in oven and let bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until slightly golden brown. Remove and let cool.
- Keep oven on.
- Over medium heat, cook bacon in a large saucepan until brown and crispy. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan and let drain on a paper towel lined plate. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.
- To the hot skillet with bacon grease, add sliced leeks and roasted red peppers. Sauté over medium – high heat until leeks have softened (if they begin to brown, decrease temperature). Remove from heat and let cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs. Add milk and cream and whisk until frothy. Add salt and pepper.
- On the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust evenly scatter half of the cheese. Sprinkle bacon evenly over cheese. Evenly spread leeks and roasted red peppers over bacon. Cover with remaining cup of cheese.
- Gently pour egg and dairy mixture over filling.
- Place in preheated oven and bake until puffed and golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. It should be set and jiggle only slightly at the very center when nudged. Remove from oven and place on wire rack and let cool at least 15 to 20 minutes before slicing. Can be served at room temperature or warm.
- Store in refrigerator tightly covered with tinfoil or plastic wrap. Rewarm by placing in a 350F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Fork Vs Spoon 
A lovely recipe. Thanks so much.
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I have recently become a little obsessed with quiches and this one looks amazing!!!! PS such props for “fraggle rock tops”.
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I love how quiche can be any meal of the day…including midnight snacks. It is great room temp or warm. So versatile and not to mention tasty! Thanks for stopping by!
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Splendid! As I do live in the tropic, Do you have any refreshing recipes?
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