Although quiche is certainly a year-round dish, I seem to make it more frequently in the summer. It’s great for a light lunch or supper and pairs well with a simple salad. I will often make a double batch when I make quiche – partly because I use store bought pie crust and they come two to a package. On this occasion, I made one full-size quiche and four mini quiches which I shared with friends. Unfortunately, in my rush to package up the quiches for delivery, I failed to take a picture of the finished product – so the picture you see is actually for a similar quiche made with bacon and scallions. One of the greatest things about quiche, in addition to how easy it is to make, is that you can use any combination of ingredients (particularly vegetables) depending on what you have one hand. I love the flavor of the gruyere cheese – it’s a little nuttier than domestic swiss, but you can purchase pre-shredded swiss cheese which is a big time saver. Quiche freezes well, but it always gets eaten in my house, so I haven’t many occasions to freeze it.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 Pie Crust (I used Pillsbury, but if you’d like to make your own, my favorite pie crust recipe is listed below.
- 1/2 Cup Mushrooms- chopped
- 1/4 – 1/3 Cup Leeks (white and light green parts only) – chopped*
- 1-2 TBS. Olive Oil
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 Large Egg Yolks
- 1 1/4 Cup of Half and Half (or heavy cream)
- 1 Cup Shredded Gruyere (or Swiss) Cheese
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 14 tsp. Freshly Ground Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pie crust and set in a 9″ pie plate. Cover with parchment paper (or wax paper) and add pie weights (or substitute dried beans). 
Bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven (remove paper and weights) and allow to cool. 
In the meantime, in a saute pan heat olive oil and add mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are tender, add the leeks, and remove from heat. 
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine eggs, yolks, cream and salt and pepper. Add mushroom, and scallion mixture to cooled pie crust and spread evenly over the bottom of the crust. Pour egg and cream mixture into crust. Sprinkle cheese on top of combined mixtures, place on a baking sheet 
and bake for an additional 6-9 minutes, or until the custard is set and cooked through (you can insert a toothpick- if it comes out clean it is set). Serve hot or at room temperature with a simple side salad. Quiche re-heats well in the microwave.
Pate Brise (Pie Crust):
- 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose flour
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 2 Sticks ( 1 Cup) Unsalted Butter – well chilled and cut into small pieces
- 1/4 – 1/2 Cup Ice Water
The key to a good flaky crust is to use very cold ingredients and don’t overwork the dough.
Add flour, salt and sugar to a food processor and mix until combined. Add butter and pulse for 7-10 seconds until flour mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add water in a steady stream through processor tube, pulsing while adding. Continue pulsing and adding water just until dough holds together. Dough should not be wet or mushy, but must hold together enough to roll out – if it doesn’t hold together to form a ball, slowly add a little more water until it does. Divide dough into two equal parts and form into balls, slightly flatten balls (they will chill faster and be easier to roll out). Cover in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour. Remove 1 dough disc from refrigerator and place on a floured work surface. Flour a rolling pin, and roll dough out to desired thickness or size necessary to fit in pie plate. Repeat process for top crust after filling bottom crust.
Kath's Kitchen Sync 