French Cooking for Beginners

BASIC QUICHE

For the Flaky Pastry Crust

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced into small pieces
1/2 cup water

For the Basic Quiche Filling

3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg



1. To make the flaky pastry crust, in a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Pulse for a few seconds, just enough to combine well. Add the butter and pulse several times, until the flour resembles coarse cornmeal. Slowly add the water with the motor running. Stop as soon as you have added the last drop of water. Don't worry; the dough will not be fully mixed at this point.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and mix it by hand until it comes together into a ball. Place in a large zip-top bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

3. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll the dough out into a giant circle, about 15 inches round and 1/8 inch thick. To transfer it to a 9-inch springform pan, coil it around your rolling pin. Unwind the dough loosely over the pan. Gently push the dough down into the corners, leaving at least 1 inch of dough hanging over the top edge. The outer-upper lip of the springform pan has a curled edge facing outward. Pinch the excess dough tightly around the edge, leaving any excess dough hanging down the outside. It is important to pinch as firm as possible without tearing the dough. This will prevent the crust from shrinking. Refrigerate the crust for 2 hours or more.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer the pan to a baking sheet. Situate the baking sheet in the lower third of the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Pull the baking sheet out of the oven and use a serrated knife to cut along the top edge of the pan. All the scraggly pastry pieces that were pinched into place will fall off.



5. To make the basic quiche filling, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. When the crust is done, increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

6. Pour the filling into the prebaked crust and bake until the filling is firm, about 50 minutes. Let it cool about 30 minutes before cutting it. It needs time to set. You will notice the difference resting makes when you slice it.



Thoughts: Prebaking the crust kept the crust from getting soggy. I didn't have a springform pan or a food processor so I made do without these. I added bacon to make a version of this recipe called Quiche Lorraine. The quiche was delicious!