Quiche and photo by Sarah Phillips © Sarah Phillips
SARAH SAYS: I baked mine in a 7- x 11-inch oblong tart pan with removable bottom! Use the same baking temperature and time.
Quiche and photo by Sarah Phillips © Sarah Phillips
Quiche is made from a combination of eggs, liquid and cheese baked in a pastry shell. As long as you cook the vegetable or meat fillings before adding them to the recipe, you can fill your quiches with just about any combination of vegetables, or chopped and cooked chicken, cooked shrimp or ham; they're a great way to use up leftovers. You can also just make a savory shallot, mushroom and basil quiche with the cheesy filling; simply eliminate the spinach and tomatoes in the recipe! Or, make a salsa quiche tart; choose 1/2 cup salsa of your liking and add it to the half and half mixture. Simply eliminate the shallots, mushrooms, red bell peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and basil in the recipe!
PIE RECIPE HELP
INGREDIENTS
Pastry Dough:
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; spoon into measuring cup and level to rim
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon (pinch) baking powder
1 1/2 cups grated mix of Gruyere and sharp cheddar cheese, or Gruyere cheese, or a mix of other hard cheeses, lightly packed and divided; grate from hard block cheese – do not use pregrated
8 tablespoons (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold and diced into cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice; do not use any other kind of vinegar
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water; place ice cubes in water and let chill. Then, measure the water for the recipe.
Quiche filling:
2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil, or more if needed
1 to 2 medium shallots or onions, finely chopped
2 cups (about 1/2 pound) white button mushrooms, quartered; I used a mix of Shitake and Cremini Mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped basil or parsley
3/4 cup half-and-half or light cream
2 large eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, optional
1 teaspoon white ground pepper; you can use ground black, instead, but I like the peppery taste of white
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 medium size bunch) blanched and chopped spinach; make sure you squeeze the water from the cooked spinach before chopping
1 cup (about 2/3 pound) chopped cherry tomatoes; cut in quarters and then, measure
Gruyere cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Pastry crust:
1. Heavily grease a 9 1/2 inch tart pan or 7 x 11-inch oblong tart pan with nonstick cooking spray. Make sure the tart pan has a removable bottom. Set aside.
2. Add the white whole wheat flour, salt and baking powder to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Turn on low to combine the ingredients.
3. Add in 3/4 cup grated hard cheese – We used a mix of Gruyere and Cheddar Cheeses.
Turn the mixer on low to combine the ingredients and to start breaking-up the cheese shreds.
4. Add the butter and turn the mixer on low. The butter will start to break-up and incorporate into the flour / cheese mixture.
5. Continue to mix the ingredients on low until all of it becomes like coarse meal. The butter particles should be small and pea size. Do not beat so the mixture comes together.
6. With the mixer on medium-low, drizzle the vinegar, at the side of the bowl, to the flour mixture and mix. Add enough ice water until it the dough just clumps together. The dough will be sticky and feel somewhat wet; do not worry.
7. Gather the dough together and wrap in plastic wrap. Then, flatten it out. Place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour or more to chill and rest.
8. On a cool, lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a rough rectangular shape, that is 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick.
Gently lift the dough, and place it into the prepared tart pan.
9. Patch and piece the crust dough, where necessary, and tap it down lightly with the bottom of a metal measuring cup.
Make sure you get the corners and the edges along the bottom next to the walls of the pan.
10. With a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pastry dough.
SARAH SAYS: Make sure the knife is held flat against the rim of the tart pan while you trim.
11. Pierce the dough all over with the tines of a fork.
SARAH SAYS: This is so the dough will not puff-up during baking.
12. Place the prepared tart shell into the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, position the oven shelf in the middle and preheat it to 325 degrees F.
14. Place the tart on a foil-lined baking sheet, preferably with rims.
15. Line the tart with parchment, and fill it with dried beans, dried rice or pie weights and bake for 20 minutes.
Gently lift the parchment and pre-bake the shell until golden brown in color, approximately 5-10 minutes more.
16. Allow the crust to cool completely on a wire cake rack, until the filling is ready.
17. DO NOT TURN OFF THE OVEN because you need to make the quiche filling and finish baking the quiche.
Quiche Filling & Bake at 325 degrees F:
A. Cook the vegetables:
1. Place a saute pan on medium heat. Add the olive oil, and once it is hot but not scorching hot, add the shallots and cook until they become translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are a light golden brown with the shallots caramelized, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and place shallots and mushrooms on a plate to cool.
3. Add the red bell peppers and chopped basil in a skillet on low heat until softened. If you need to, add a small amount of olive oil to the pan.
4. Add the cooked mushrooms and shallots to the pan, stirring frequently, until mushrooms release their liquid, the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms are a dark golden brown with the shallots caramelized and the red bell pepper softened, about 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the vegetable ingredients to cool completely.
B. Make the Egg Filling and Bake:
1. In a medium size bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the 3/4 cup mix of Gruyere and cheddar cheeses, parmesan cheese, half and half, pepper and salt, and stir.
2. Spread the cooled and cooked vegetables evenly in the bottom of the pre-baked and cooled tart crust, placed on a foil-lined baking sheet, preferably with rims.
Then, sprinkle the spinach, tomatoes and basil all across the tart.
3. Pour the cheese / half-and-half mixture evenly over the top of the vegetables and place into the oven.
4. Bake the quiche in a heated 325 degrees F oven until it is set, and lightly browned on top, about 30 – 40 minutes or until just set in the center.
To test, touch lightly with your fingertip and the quiche should be pretty solid in feel, especially in the middle. There should be no liquid showing.
When done, allow it to cool for 30 – 40 minutes or to room temperature before unmolding and serving.
SARAH SAYS: The quiche will unmold relatively easily the cooler it is.
SARAH SAYS: My rectangle-shaped quiche was a bit difficult to unmold from its pan. I had to run a thin icing spatula around the edges to help loosen it.
Then, I pushed up the bottom of the pan so the side of the pan came off. And, I ran a long icing spatula between the quiche and the pan's bottom to loosen it.
STORAGE
Store the baked quiche or any left-overs in the refrigerator, well-wrapped in plastic wrap. It will keep for a day or so.
Reheat in a 300 degree F oven for about 15 minutes.
Quiche and photo by Sarah Phillips © Sarah Phillips
