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If you remember the 1980s, you may well have enjoyed Quiche Lorraine. Along with a green salad and some crusty baguette and butter (not that you need it with the quiche), it was the go-to food for brunch, lunch, and dinner.
It went by the way of the healthier-foods movement, buy is still a special-occasion treat. May 20th is National Quiche Lorraine Day, so there’s no time like the present to make a quiche.
> The recipe is below, following the wine pairings.
> The history of Quiche Lorraine.
> Gluten-free quiche recipe: Sausage & Onion Quiche With A Hash Brown Potato Crust
> The history of Gruyère cheese.
> Five major types of egg dishes.
WINE PAIRINGS WITH QUICHE
Quiche is made with lots of Gruyère cheese, and is best with righter, higher-acid reds that cut through the richness. But full-bodied, bright whites can do the same.
Red wine lovers should pair a light but fruity wine: a Pinot Noir from Alsace, Beaujolais, red Sancerre (which is Pinot Noir) from the Loire, a Southern Rhone blend, or Pinot Noir or Merlot from the U.S. and Australian.
White wines to pair include Champagne with its lemony acidity (and by all means serve it with mini quiches at a cocktail party), other French sparklers like Crémant d’Alsace or Crémant de Bourgogne, and Alsatian Riesling, Pinot Blanc, or Muscat, which are served there with a quiche cousin, the tarte flambée*.
RECIPE #1: CLASSIC QUICHE LORRAINE
Quiche can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Depending if it is a first course or main course, it serves from 4 to 6.
It can be served hot from the over, warm, or at room temperature. See photo #1, Quiche Lorraine.
You can bake and refrigerate the quiche a day ahead of serving. To reheat, cover it with aluminum foil and heat for 35 to 45 minutes in a preheated 300°F oven, until the center is hot.
Prep time is 15 minutes if you use a frozen crust, and cook time is an hour. Of course, you can make the crust from scratch. If frozen, let the crust thaw for 10 minutes (until you can prick it with a fork).
Variations: You can make your own signature quiche by adding your favorite ingredients—no holds barred. We’ve even made a surf-and-turf quiche with bacon and scallops. You can vary the cheeses as well.
Ingredients
9-inch deep-dish pie crust
6 slices thick-cut bacon, small dice
2 medium shallots (½ cup chopped)
4 large eggs
1¼ cups heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
A grind fresh-ground nutmeg (or a pinch of dried)
4 ounces Gruyère, finely shredded (about 1¼ cups)
Preparation
1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F, with a rack set in the middle position.
2. BLIND BAKE the crust (blind baking or par-baking is used with an uncooked filling, or with a filling to keep the pie crust from becoming soggy). Prick it in different places 10 times with a fork. Place the crust on a baking sheet.
3. BAKE until lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust: If it puffs up, gently prick it with a fork to deflate. Remove and set aside to cool (keep the crust on the baking sheet, atop a rack if needed). Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
4. COOK the bacon in a medium nonstick pan over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally—about 10 minutes. Line a plate with paper towels and use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to drain. Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat.
5. ADD the shallots and cook over medium-low heat until soft and translucent but not brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
6. WHISK the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the cream, salt, cayenne, and nutmeg; whisk until evenly combined.
7. SPREAD the shallots evenly over the bottom of the cooked crust. Top them with half the bacon, all of the Gruyère, and then the remaining bacon. Then pour the egg and cream mixture over the top.
8. SLIDE the quiche on the baking sheet into the 325°F oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the custard is set and lightly golden.
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*Tarte flambée means “pie baked in flames” in French (these days, it means the oven). The dough is similar to pizza and can be topped with anything from traditional ingredients like cheese, mushrooms, onions to lardons and apples. There are local differences, of course. For example, the tarte flambée found around Strasbourg is spread with fromage blanc, a fresh cheese originating in northern France and southern Belgium, which can be described as cottage cheese meets Greek yogurt. It’s s a creamy soft cheese that is virtually fat free in its natural state (a real diet find!), but cream is frequently added to improve the flavor, increasing the fat content.
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[1] A classic Quiche Lorraine—Gruyère with bacon and onions. Here’s the recipe (photo © Natasha).
[2] You can add your favorite ingredients. Here’s the recipe for this asparagus-leek quiche (photo © The Baker Chick).
[3] This quiche adds zucchini, mushrooms, and olives (photo © Edgar Castrejon | Unsplash).
[4] Le Gruyère, the longest-aged and most complex of the Gruyère cheeses (photo © Murray’s Cheese).
[5] Watching carbs? Here’s the recipe for this crustless vegetable quiche (photo © Maple From Canada).
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