When Ian and I were in Paris for a few days last winter, we ate a lot of quiche. It was so easy to just pop into a boulangerie and grab if we were hungry. I mean, we got a lot of croissants, pain au chocolat and macarons, too but we also ate quiche because it was basically a proper meal you could just eat with your hands while walking down the sidewalk staring at the Eiffel Tower. Or maybe even when you are on the top of the Eiffel Tower (true story, we ate quiche on top of the Eiffel Tower). And it was cheap compared to 99% of the restaurants.
Ian has been low key begging me to make a quiche since we got back… last March… So finally, I decided that since I have never made one in my life, I would find one, review it and share it with you all! At first, I found a plain old quiche, but that was quickly poo-poo’d by Ian who wanted a Quiche Lorraine. His wish was granted.
To start, I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again…. just buy pie pastry from the freezer aisle. You a) won’t use a ton of time making pastry and b) won’t be worried whether or not it turns out. Obviously if you want to make your own pastry, I’m not going to stop you.
According to the directions, you are supposed to bake your crust first, but I did the bacon and onion first, that way everything was ready to go and the oven wasn’t on for any longer than necessary (I listened to a podcast and the guy mentioned that if you preheat your oven way too far in advance.. it is a huge waste of energy, so I’m trying to be more conscious about that). Ten strips of bacon is a lot. But you will use all of it. Maybe cook 11 since you’re 100% likely to want to eat a piece before you actually bake this pie.
I didn’t measure the onion. I just used a whole one. Can’t help it. I just really like sauteed onion. Plus it’s not like it’s going to ruin a dish because there’s a little extra onion that has been sauteed in bacon grease….
This recipe requires that you blind bake your pie crust. I have never done this before. The directions say you can use rice, so I did, but I didn’t use enough and the crust still bubbled. This did not actually affect the quiche, though. I felt like this was a waste of rice and have a mental note to self that I should buy pie weights.
Remember how in so many of my previous posts, I said, “My grocery store didn’t have this item. I need to find a new grocery store” Well, I went to my usual grocery store. So I used Emmental and Swiss cheese because I couldn’t find Gruyere. I’m sure I could have just used a ton of Swiss, and it would have been fine because the cheese flavour wasn’t super strong in this quiche. I actually followed the directions and “finely shredded” the cheese. I think that was a good choice. It was easier to spread it around. Do I think you could do this with two cups of whatever cheese you already have in your fridge? Absolutely.
I made the eggwash, which was different because it was eggwhite and water – I had never done that before (this is a pie of firsts!). I wonder what would have happened if I had used yolk? I did have some leftover eggwash after I brushed the crust thoroughly. When it came time to fill the pie crust, I used every last bit of bacon, onion and cheese but I kept a little bit of bacon to crumble on the top. The egg filling comes basically right to the top of the crust – literally a perfect fit.
During baking, the edges of the crust started to become brown halfway through, so I covered the edges in tinfoil to prevent them from burning. Then once the timer FINALLY went off (45 minutes is a long time to wait!) I patiently waited another 15 minutes for the pie to rest before digging in. Consensus? This is a delicious Quiche Lorraine! It is good hot, after it’s 15 minute rest, but it is also not so terrible cold the next day for lunch. I am just a little concerned with the serving sizes. This recipe says it will feed 8 people.. I’m thinking if you have a large meal with lots of other things, 8 people can eat this pie. But if you’ve got this pie and only one or two other things, you’re only going to feed 4-6. But maybe that’s just me.
One last little tidbit, if you do make your own pastry, or you buy those little single serve pastry cups, you can totally make bite-size or single serve quiches! We had friends over once and they brought them and they were great (thanks, Catherine!). They kept in the fridge for a couple of days too so they were easy to grab for breakfast or a snack. Bon appetit!
