Come on, be honest. Is there anything better than a homemade quiche? I could eat it with a pile of baby greens for dinner every night of the week. Or lunch, brunch or a post-gym snack. Is there anything more versatile? Oddly enough, I didn’t have a proper quiche pan until yesterday, when a trip to my beloved Bowery Kitchen Supply put me face-to-face with one for ten bucks. (Alex’s favorite kitchen name, ever, is Fluted Removable-Bottom Tart Pan, followed by Reamer. What, you didn’t know I was married to a twelve-year-old?) I was actually there to get my knives sharpened (mwa-ha-ha, it sounds so sinister, right?) and to look at pasta-makers (this excitement for later, but yes, I can barely contain myself, too), and within 2.5 seconds, I knew we were having quiche for dinner.
Unable to decide between Julia Child’s leek quiche and her mushroom variety, I opted instead to use a little of both. She suggests you braise the leeks for 30 minutes with a little butter, water and salt and you should listen to her. Remember those brown-braised pearl onions from the coq a vin? Well, they’ve got competition. She has you cook mushrooms in a way I haven’t before, but it will now be my go-to method for sautéed mushrooms because it was divine: a pat of butter, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of port, cooked low with the lid on for eight minutes. How does she do that? How does she take something you’ve done your whole life and convince you each time you could have been doing it better because they’ve never tasted this good?
My relationship with her pate brisee dough, however, is far less serene. It had two times the water in it as the Martha Stewart recipe I have always used, and shrunk so much, I had a ton of extra filling and was forced to make five extra mini-quiches for our tortured dinner guests tonight, unable to throw away the extras. The crust was also ridiculously thick — I looked and looked, but I saw no suggestion that the amount should be used to make two (2 cups flour to 12 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons shortening and a 1/2 cup water, for reference), so I followed her suggestions against my better interest and paid the price. Really, it never even crisped up when par-baked. Julia, I expected more from you. (Though odds are it’s me, right?)
It ain’t no big thing, though. We spent our Lazy Married Saturday Night watching Memento and cutting into the best quiche we’ve made yet, oblivious to the fact that it’s in our pre-family contract to paint the town whatever whenever possible. When inside its warm, dry and fragrant with home-cooked awesomeness, that great big world out there does not compete.
Pate Brisee
Adapted from Martha Stewart and Julia Child
Makes one tart dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons ice water
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Form dough into a single ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator, and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.
4. To par-bake the shell: Roll out the chilled dough as quickly as possible on a lightly-floured surface until is about 2 inches large all around than your pie pan. Either reverse the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the mold or fold it into quarters and lay it over the mold, unfolding it. Press the dough lightly into the bottom of the pan, lifting the edges and working it gently down into the mold. Trim off excess dough by rolling the pin over the top of the mold.
5. With your thumbs, push the dough 1/8-inch above the edge of the mold, to make an even, rounded rim of dough around the inside circumference of the mold. You can then press a decorative edge around the rim of the pastry with the dull edge of a knife. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals.
6. Line the pastry with foil and fill it with pie weights, uncooked rice or beans and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove the foil and bake the shell for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove it from the oven when the shell is just starting to color and just beginning to shrink from the sides of the mold.
7. If it seems to you that the sides of the shell are too fragile, or liable to crack or leak with the weight of the pie filling to come, do not unmold until your tart or quiche is filled and fully baked. To unmold it, slip it onto a rack so air will circulate and cool it, preventing it from getting soggy.
Leek and Mushroom Quiche [Quiche aux Poireaux et Champignons]
Adapted from Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking
3 to 4 leeks, white part only, sliced
1/2 cup water
Salt
3 tablespoons butter
5 to 6 large white mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon port
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups whipping cream (Deb: I use whole milk)
An 8-inch partially-cooked pastry shell on a baking sheet
1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon butter cut into pea-sized dots
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Boil the leeks over moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed, covered saucepan with 1/2 cup water, two tablespoons butter and a teaspoon of salt until it the liquid has almost evaporated. Lower heat and stew gently for 20 to 30 minutes until leeks are very tender. Put them aside in a bowl.
3. Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan along with the sliced mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and port. Cover pan and cook over moderately low heat for 8 minutes. Uncover. Raise heat and boil for several minutes until liquid is completely evaporated and mushrooms are beginning to saute in their butter. Stir cooked mushrooms into leek mixture.
3. Beat the eggs, cream or milk and seasoning in a large mixing bowl to blend. Gradually stir in the leek and mushroom mixture. Check seasoning. Pour into pastry shell. Spread on the cheese and distribute to the butter over it (Deb note: I’m not sure if it’s because I accidentally took it out a minute or two early, but I found the butter to leave a slight greasiness on top, getting in the way of a cheesy crust, and might skip it next time). Bake in upper third of pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until puffed and browned.
Ah, quiche! I could live on it forever as well. But how does this compare to your famous spinach one? (Which I made a few months ago to the delight of my dinner guests…..added a little pesto too, hope that’s not blasphemy!)
And removable-bottom? Um, HA! Apparently, I’m 12 too.
Have you ever tried making the crust out of cooked rice? It works well and, I find, makes for a lighter meal.
I now know what i’m going to have for dinner. Sounds so good!
– fanny
I saw a quiche recently somewhere else, too – and have the same comment. I love quiche, and the key to a good one is all in the pastry.
Looks awesome! I love to make quiche and I found this lovely premade whole wheat crust at this little store in Memphis. I wonder if they’ll ship? I use Italian flat leaf parsley, spinach, ham and gruyere cheese. Yummy! I’ve never used butter on a quiche and probably would leave it out.
Quiche is soul food for cheese, eggs, and cream. My god, when you think about it, you can’t go wrong.
I never make a crust because it takes away from the soul-food charm of itall by making me fret about crust. For this reason, and the fact that I’m a lazy pig, I’ve elected to use a Emile Henry knockoff quiche dish that I butter well and dump the filling into. It always turns out addictive and tasty. Chewy edges, creamy center…oh what more can you ask for? Then I can eat my quiche with a lovely arugala or frisee salad and a crusty baguette, glass of wine (I’m a sucker for a pouilly fume) and man, I’m a happy woman!
Does this mean I’m not eating a quiche? Am I eating a Frittata? I really hate Frittata, so I hope not.
I love quiche! Especially with leeks, and I am so all over port sauteed mushrooms! Sometimes I deliberately make individual quiches and alter the ingredients to the finicky tastes of each family member:). I know—I am such a sucker.
Thanks for the reminder: I really, really need to have my knives sharpened. Though do I dare stand unchecked in the middle of a kitchen store?
Cannot wait to hear of your pasta recipes! I need a good homemade dough that is error proof!
Yum! I’ve never made quiche since I don’t have a good pan either, but I enjoy that fluted edge so much that I may need to put the pan on the priority list.
And, this maybe 12-year-oldish of me, but whenever I think of quiche, I can’t help but think of an episode of “Designing Women” when Charlene described a friend ordering it off of a menu: “And she called it a quickie!” Oh, dear.
We just had quiche a couple nights ago. I put ham, chopped broccolini and green pepper in a small pan, steam it all together while pre baking a pre-made crust (ducking Debs blow), then I put small squares of danish feta in the crust and dump the vegies/ham over that. For the egg mixture, eggs, french mustard and cream. I sprinkle with dill and spread a few slices of tomato on top then cover with a bit of grated cheese. Beautiful, even the next day!
Beautiful pie crust! I agree about the quiche being the perfect breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack. Really, it’s good just about any time.
I love, love, love quiches, of pretty much all kinds and flavors. Leeks and mushrooms are one of my favorite combos though.
And aren´t fluted pans the best? Such cute edges without any work. And removable bottoms can be life-saver when the tarts are harder to unmold, or fragile on top…so Alex can laugh, but removable bottoms are the best ;)
This turned out very well-looks so good!
I haven’t had quiche in FOREVER! I might just have to do one soon…so inspiring!
Deb,
Your quiche is beautiful – I agree with you, I’d have quiche everyday if I could. Of course I’d be able to sell the car and go to work rolling on the streets, but who cares?
Oooh, quiche! This one looks wonderful. Quiche is AKA “We need to use up leftover veggies” in my house – it is so versatile. Except, as I found out two weeks ago, do not think you can substitute cream cheese + skim milk for half and half, as the very unfortunately ruined lox (but-what-would-have-been-delicious) quiche I attempted was really awful. Really, really, awful. I didn’t know I could mess up quiche!
I prefer Martha’s pate brisee to Julia’s as well. (Which is odd b/c I usually have horrible luck with Martha’s recipes.) And yes, the word reamer also makes me giggle–I guess I’m 12, too.
The I’m not sure there is any better “winter” food than a quiche, escpecially one as delicious looking as this one. Time to get that tart pan out of the cupboard – thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Deb,
i tried the quiche yesterday night and it was was simply delicious.
Love
-fanny
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…..that looks fabulous!
As soon as this darn “Vegan Week” is over, I am all over that bad boy…..
Okay, so I realize this is completely the wrong post to reply to (and a little belated at that), but I wanted to make sure you’d see the praises of “World Peace Cookies”. Oh My God. Really, WOW. My fiance and I decided they needed to be spooned, warm, over cold ice cream with walnuts.
I was in a huge rush to make this recipe for a desert potluck and I decided to follow the recipe even though I couldn’t chill the dough. Then I realized how crumbly the dough was (sans egg), and I ended up forming some cookies in the palm of my hand (which worked) and then putting the rest of the dough in a 4×4″ baking dish (which looks like it will work for crumbly spoonfuls, although I’m waiting to taste it).
Anyway. Amazing cookies. I am in complete awe. And I think my stomach hurts already from eating too many :D
Simply fabulous. Unfortunately it’s after 6.00 here and not gonna happen for dinner tonight. If only you delivered…
Can hardly wait to make this,
Susan
Food “Blogga”
The quiche looks and sounds amazing. Will try it, especially since you demystified crust making so nicely. But this post would be great for the mushrooms technique alone.
thanks for the inspiration… i didnt make that ^^ quiche, but i did make quiche last night and WOW was it yum!
That looks fantastic…so pretty!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the mushrooms recipe! I pan seared a couple of steaks this evening and topped them with the mushrooms–sooooo good! As much as I hate all those substitutions people recount in epicurious.com recipe reviews, I must admit to one here. My ancient bottle of port had given up the ghost, so I used a tablespoon of dry sherry. Still wonderful. Will try with port soon.
Deb,
I don’t have any port on hand. What would you recommend using instead?
Ashley — Terry B (above) used sherry and loved it. I might use red wine (the answer to everything, right?) if I had it. Maybe even white? I don’t think anything will cause it harm, or drastically change the flavor in such a small quantity. Good luck!
Mmmmm, I don’t think I’ve ever made quiche, nor had a properly good one. But that looks and sounds divine. I’m going to try cooking mushrooms the same way *drool
Quiche has become a form of ammunition around here. The women love it, the men hate it. My daughter for her birthday always requests mushroom-crab quiche and the boys scream “unfair.” But it’s her birthday, what are they going to do about it?
Hello! A fan from Seattle de-lurking to tell you that I made this receipe this evening and it was delicious (per your suggestion, I omitted the butter from the top and that worked well; the cheese topping was all it needed.)
Thanks for the great recipes and inspiration!
Deb,
I sauteed the mushrooms in white truffle oil and skipped the port all together. It was wonderful. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m happy that I happened on to this site. I recently moved and misplaced my copy of Julia’s cookbook. I did, however, find my apple pie recipe w/this hand written instruction: 1 1/2 C APF, 1/2 C CF, 1/4 tsp salt, 2T Sugar (omit for savory/add more salt), 1 1/2 ST butter, 1/4 C VSh, and 1/2 C H2O makes 2-9″ pie crusts or 1-14×4.5 tart crust. I’m certain that this is Julia’s recipe, as it is my favorite. As with any pastry, the amount of water will vary with the weather, so use it judiciously. I will have to try Martha’s pastry, though, in deference to this beautiful tart.
What a hoot! First time I’ve seen your blog. Port wine!? How decadent! Your quiche looks fabulous and I will be making it tomorrow. What caught my eye, though, is that you watch Memento which has to be DH’s all-time favorite movie. A little weird, almost bizarre, but interesting in the story treatment vis-a-vis color vs black and white.
I just made this and it was FANTASTIC. My husband, who dislikes both Leeks and mushrooms loved it. So did my three year old! I replaced the heavy whipping cream with Fat Free half and half and replaced the port with twice the amount of dry Sherry and skipped the butter at the end of the recipe. And I used wild mushrooms.
So good! And I’m not one to make my own crust but that was so easy and tasted so much better than store bought. One more thing: I made it in mini muffin pans (8 rectangles) so we each had our own little serving. It was perfect and now very easy to pack as lunches. wow, I have never sounded so Martha Stewart in my life.
Thanks!
Made a quiche today and for the shell, used the dough recipe from cooks illustrated (the one with vodka) and did not have any problems with holes or tearing, and baked it in the 9 inch Mixtur oven serving dish from Ikea ($5.99) and the depth was perfect, about 2″ – did blind bake the shell and used pennies encased in an oven bag; for the filling, after reading through several recipes, I used 4 eggs, cream, milk, and sour cream (in place of creme fraiche); for the cheese, I used pepper jack and cheddar; added chili peppers and just salt and pepper but did serve it with hot sauce. Tasty!
btw… also used cumin (love that seasoning!).
and parsley and oregano..
Made this last night. It was really good and had great flavor. The only problem I had was that there ended up being way too much filling and it was quite runny. (I saved the extra filling in the fridge and made scrambled eggs with it this morning, which was yummy.) I think when I make this quiche again I will add one extra egg and less milk and see how that goes. It is fun to experiment! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Deb, my name is Kate and I live in a town called Mornington in Victoria, Australia. I saw you on the Martha Stewart episode featuring blogs and am so glad i wrote your blog name down on a scrap of paper. I am hooked! Your blog is now an icon on my computer’s desktop and I feel a sense of comfort and satisfaction when I visit every day to lap up your divine recipes, mouth watering photos and hilarious commentary. I am a passionate home cook who lives to see pleasure in my friends and family’s eyes when they taste something I have created. Sound familiar???? I promise to post some of my successes (amongst numerous failures) from the land of Oz. Thank you for your little piece of heaven that is Smitten Kitchen.
Hello!
I tried this recipe yesterday, and the filling turned out great. Only thing is I didn’t make the Pate Brisee…do you have a suggestion for a ready made crust to use? I will have the guts to make it from scratch one day…
I just made Julia’s original leek quiche this weekend, with the original pate brisee recipe, and I can only conclude it is for two crusts. Even dividing it in half I ended up with a thicker crust than I really care for. And after all the fat in the crust I couldn’t bring myself to put heavy cream in the quiche (blasphemy, I know) – I mean – I wanted my family to live to next week!
I really agree with you how Julia’s techniques, while sometimes puzzling at first, almost always yield delicious results. I did the indicated fraisage technique with the dough, and I’m not sure if it was that or the ratio of butter to shortening that made the crust so good, but it was definitely delicious.
i just made this on a whole wheat crust, no butter dotted on top. delicious!!
Just one word: great!
I’ts in the oven as I type. My backyard hens have just started laying so I had to celebrate. I had the dough for crust from another recipe in the frige but I made the filling more or less as given. Except 5 small (pullet) eggs & I used some home made clotted cream stretched to 1.5 cups with low fat milk. It smells devine!! I just wish the pan size wqs given. I erred on the size of smaller & used a 9″ quiche pan; I ended up with 2 buttered ramikins of extra filling. Cest la vie!
I made this tonight (using the no par-baking crust from your quiche lorraine recipe). I used the whipping cream and oh my lord, it was… how can I put this… sinfully quichegasmic. I might even like this one better than the quiche lorraine (even with those caramelized leeks), and I’m a philcarnivore to the bitter end, so that’s saying a lot. (I had to substitute red wine for the port as I didn’t have any port on hand)
Deb, what size pan did you use? I have to make this soon!
Just made this for dinner and it would have been really good except that we found it waaay too salty. I would make it again but use only a quarter or half tsp of salt with the leeks instead of a full tsp. I also left out the butter on top and didn’t miss it. Thanks for the great recipes!
After mentally preparing myself to make a real pie crust, I finally ended up making this quiche. all the flavors were there… even though it was my first time, the crust looked ok. BUT the filling ended up too liquidy, as if the milk didnt cook at all. ( I used whole milk as well). I cooked it around 35 min. just to make sure (hoping it would somehow decide to solidfy or something) :((
As I am accustomed to cooking more Asian food, than anything, I decided to give this amazing combination of both Martha and Julia’s recipes a shot.
To be put simply, I am astonished with the incredible flavours, and the delicate requirements which are inherent to the method.
Not only did I receive a vast amount of compliments, I too am also happy with this fine bit of culinary decadence.
Just made this, but like Zed (above), the filling in mine didn’t solidify either — it was just really soupy and liquidy. i cooked for about 35 minutes and used milk in lieu of cream. The leek and mushroom flavors were delicious, but I wonder if I did something to mess up the consistency…
This is an incredible recipe!! I love the leeks and mushrooms together. Great flavor, although I did think there was too much milk so next time I think I ll cut back on that 1/4 cup or so. I also love Martha Stewarts Pate Brisse; it’s a great staple pie crust recipe.
I have made this quiche (just the filling) three times following your recipe pretty closely (I added a little nutmeg and used wine instead of port). Each time it has been delicious. Thank you for sharing. :)
I linked to this recipe recently when I blogged about concocting a vegan quiche – I took inspiration from many places, including your leek preparation. Thanks!
http://www.thecelerymuseum.com/2010/09/of-cooking-to-share-and-small-crustless.html
are you kidding me? this was INSANELY good. like crazy insane. good advice on substituting with milk, by the way. i can’t imagine how rich it would have been otherwise. thank you!
Thank you thank you!! My husband loves quiche (especially Marcey Brownstein’s in NYC), and I have always been too intimidated to try making one….until now!!! Thank you for posting such a delicious and relatively simple, easy to follow recipe!! I made this tonight…it turned out great…and I am still amazed that the pastry crust turned out so perfect!
Gahh! I’ve got the same problem as I see several others have had–I used the whole milk instead of cream, and after an hour (!) in the oven I’ve got a delicious eggy-slop thing. The flavours are awesome, so I can tell this has mega-potential, but…
Has anyone who’s used cream had this problem? Deb, you didn’t have any consistency issues when using milk?
Awesome quiche recipe! I really love quiche as well. My family makes it every Thanksgiving and Christmas for our family brunch, but I try to make one for dinner as often as possible. I’ll have to try out the leeks and mushrooms. Sounds like an awesome combo.
Also, I did not know there was such a thing as a quiche specific pan. That looks awesome!
Another delicious recipe from s-k! For my 1st try at this quiche, I used whole milk, par-baked store-bought pie shells (cooked in its own pan) and I used Gruyere (not Swiss) and didn’t add the butter dollops, doubled the amount of leek & mushroom but used just 1 recipe’s worth of custard and I filled 2 pie shells. Baked them for +5 or +10 minutes (since I was multi-tasking) and I judged doneness based on how browned the top looked. I let the quiche set for >60 minutes. I had no problem with consistency. I previously found that the awesome cauliflower & caramelized onion tart recipe yielded enough filling and custard for >1 tart, so I made both types of tart/quiches tonight and ended up with 2 tasty tarts & 2 quiches. Y-U-M!
This sounds fantastic. I’m thinking of making it for a brunch-dinner (who doesn’t love brunch food on a week night?) but won’t have much time between when I get home from work and my guests arrive (plus I have a 2 year old I have to feed and get ready for bed). Do you think it would be better to make this a day in advance and re-heat it, or prep the leek-mushroom mixture and the crust in advance and then assemble and bake that night?
Hi!
I am wondering about the diameter of the pan you used! I am making quiche for the first time this weekend and was going to use Julia Child’s ham and leek recipe. I am looking forward to using your adaptation of her dough recipe. I have a 9.5″ pan– should I follow her suggestion to 1.5 times the proportions for the filling?
Any guidance would be super helpful!
Thanks!
Just wanted to drop a note and say that I made this quiche last night for a dinner party (and an extra one for today’s Easter brunch) and it was delicious! I’m still learning how to cook, so I chickened out and didn’t attempt the crust. But I used a frozen crust and pre-baked it and it turned out great! Maybe next time when I’m not making it for a big group I’ll go for it. I also didn’t have any port, so I used balsamic vinegar instead and that worked pretty well, although I’m not sure how much it changed the flavor.
I love quiche, and this recipe didn’t disappoint. Thank you!!!!!
Greetings from Long Island,
Not sure if you will see this since the original post is from 2007 but…
I was wondering if you think puff pastry would work for a quiche crust? I was thinking of docking the crust up to 1″ from the edge of a tart pan.
Any thoughts?
BTW, Love, Love, Love, your blog! Can’t wait for the cookbook!
Puffed pastry should be just fine.
Thank you! I’m going to make this quiche filling w/ puffed pastry for my husbands 50th birthday cocktail party Saturday night and needed a time saver! So much to do, so little time! ;)
I just made this quiche… and it’s friggin’ delicious! Yummy!
I used store-bought pie crust and it turned out fine, though I may have over cooked the edges of the crust a little.
I made this for dinner tonight and had to post a comment…it was so perfect! Very flavorful and filling (I served it on top of some raw spinach with a side of roasted asparagus). My husband is a vegetarian and said it was completely satisfying. I used a frozen puff pastry for the crust (totally cheating, but delicious! my mother and aunt would be horrified…shh!). We will for sure make this again, and experiment with different fillings. The way the leeks and mushrooms were cooked was definitely the key to the flavor. I didn’t have port so I used a tablespoon of white wine with the mushrooms and it worked just fine as a cooking liquid. I left out the butter on the top per Deb’s suggestion- no oil at all! MAKE THIS TONIGHT!
Delicious and absolutely decadent!! My non-vegetarian husband even loved it. Like others, I left out the butter. The dish certainly has enough butter without more layered on top. I’ll have to freeze the leftovers, but I’m actually looking forward to eating them.
This was incredibly delicious, but I made a few changes. This recipe asks for a lot of salt, so instead I just added a tsp full of salt to the leek mixture. When I mixed it into the sauteed mushrooms and then later into the egg and milk mixture, it was just fine. Also, I skipped the butter and chose to make it with a non-butter option, like I can’t believe it’s not butter, or something similar, whatever you have in your fridge. Turned out to be just perfect. I also skipped the dots of butter on top of the cheese, because the cheese is greasy enough. I made another quiche, but substituted Swiss cheese with a mixture of mozzarella and grated parmesan. Equally delicious!
Hi there, I made this the other day and it was so delish. But I also found it was too much milk ( i used mostly cream mixed with a bit of 2%) The color in the end was not super yellow like your photo but a kind of bland cream color…Perhaps next time I may use 4 eggs and and smidge less cream/milk? Unless I did something wrong. But regardless the flavors were perfection. It was hard not to just keep eating it and eating until it disappeared. Thanks for all the great recipes!
OMG!!! This is my new fave quiche. Adding to my list of all time favorite recipes. Thank you so much.
This is the best quiche EVER!!!!!! It turned out fantastic. I made it once for my friends and again for my hubby’s work potluck. They are still talking about it.I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect. The only difference-I did not use port and instead used a splash of lemon juice with a hint of cranberry juice to cook the mushrooms. I don’t think I will ever cook mushrooms any other way again :)
Deb – You are my culinary soul mate! Just when I’ve been having weird dreams about some food thing, I look at S-K and there it is!!! Like this quiche…tire of quiche lorraine (well, not really) but in love (again) with leeks these days…It was fabulous…Thanks…AGAIN…for reading my mind!
I made this last night ( I used the LPQ savory tart shell which Deb has linked to elsewhere and I think is phenomenal), but I have to report that I thought the filling had way too much salt. I used portobellos instead of white mushrooms and whole milk (not cream), so that could explain the difference but I don’t think so.
I’d recommend to anyone making it to cut the full teaspoon used for the leeks to just half a teaspoon (or even a 1/4).
Also – I was confused by the references to “seasoning” in number 3? I did not add any extra seasoning and was wondering if by seasoning you meant to add ground pepper? I can’t imagine you are recommending adding more salt! :)
This was my first quiche that I ever made and I thought it was just okay. I’m obviously still new to all these things, but my crust wasn’t quite as thick as yours appears in the pictures and it sunk down a little on the sides. It wasn’t as crunchy as I would have like either. The filling was also a little runny and more of a bland creamy color. Next time i’m going to bump up to 4 eggs and knock the milk down to just 1 cup. Overall though, it was great and I can’t wait to try more quiches!!
That quiche sounds heavenly! What a great way to cook the mushrooms (yes, Julia Child has a way of making such simple things even better!). This is a must-try recipe.
I attempted this crust again last night after the first attempt ended in a shrunken disaster. Mine still didn’t turn out quite right — it was soggy and the crust never crisped up. But despite it’s not-fully-appealing-texture, it tasted soooooo goooooood.
What’s the trick to a non-soggy quiche?!
I made this quiche last week (with store bought pastry), and it was divine! My flatmate was quite jealous. Thank you!
8 minutes stewing the leeks and they burned to the pan (I was occupied reading your reviews here), so simmer and watch closely.
In mastering the Art of French Cooking the classic book by Simone Beck, Louise Bertholle and Julia Child (no, it’s not just Julia’s book) the pate brise recipe calls for 1 cup of flour. Perhaps Julia lost the recipe when she went out on her own. However, anyone familiar with pastry-making would know at once that 2 cups is far too much for one 8″ crust. In any case I find it easier to make the pastry with no more than 2 ounces of butter or even margarine. This also means pre-baking isn’t necessary.
This is an amazing recipe, thank you! I am making it again because the last one went so quickly. It is easy and basic and have switched the ingredients in it but just followed your recipe and procedure. Thank you for your beautiful blog! I have a recipe from my grandmother’s 1950’s Betty Crocker recipe binder that is virtually the same recipe and it is foolproof dough. Delicious!
Hi! I used the Martha recipe for dough that you love all the time. Could I just do that one instead? And if so would you par bake it, or just pour it in like my all time favorite spinach quiche recipe of yours?
Delicious!! I took everyone’s recommendations and increased the eggs to 4, omitted the butter on top, and decreased the milk to 1 cup. PERFECT! So easy to make, too.
I made this quiche as an appetizer for Thanksgiving. My whole family is in the restaurant business and really picky/snobby about food. Everyone LOVED this quiche. I had never made a quiche before. I had never made pie crust from scratch before. But somehow, everything came out perfect. I didn’t need any extra water for the dough- 2tbs was just right. Tears in the crust were easily sealed. I also skipped the pieces of butter at the end- unnecessary. I also used Monterey Jack instead of Swiss b/c that was all I had. Still amazing. I’ve never heard so many compliments (from my family no less!). Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
I made this quiche and everyone really loved it! I’m a huge quiche fan myself and have been searching for the perfect recipe for a while. Another one of my favorites by The Skinny Chef. Her ebook is available. I would definitely recommend checking it out if anyone is still experimenting.
We’re looking forward to making this for a Christmas dinner, but I was wondering about the BOILED leeks. Would sauteing work too?
John — No reason why not.
Deb – You don’t mention how many this serves? I need to provide quiche for 16 tomorrow – should I double or triple this?
Penny — Most quiche usually serve 8 (or 10 women who request “just a sliver!” heh). I’d double it. Happy cooking!
I was so taken by the method by which the leeks AND mushrooms were cooked! I didn’t make the quiche, but HAVE to tell you what I hacked up! I made the veggies exactly as instructed except I added garlic (a LOT) to the leeks before they stew. Then when the leeks and mushrooms came together, added silken tofu and some greek yogurt. This culminated in a super rich, decadent, but deceptively healthy “cream” sauce. It was SO good! We served it over spaghetti squash because my husband’s latest “I have to lose weight” solution is to go vegetarian, but it would be lovely over regular pasta. Or a potato. OR rice. Or steak.. Any secondary vehicle to get it in your mouth works, really.
Thanks Deb! This is going to be my preferred way of making leeks from now on.
help! I am making this dish today but notice you don’t say what size your new tart pan is! I have two. An 11×1.125 with a removable bottom. And a 9 inch with A fixed bottom. I would like to use 11 in but worry about enough tart to full it!
Laura — It should work fine in an 11-inch. I don’t remember the size of my thicker one, but I didn’t scale the recipe to it.
I had a friend that made a delicious salad with chick peas, however, when I tried to duplicate it, ughhhh, did not worked! The person took that recipe to their grave, so do you have any suggestions to make a salad with chick peas.
Love your website! I made your NY cheesecake with cherries and while it wasn’t as beautiful as yours, it was quite delicious. Anyway, I’d like to try this quiche for Easter but I’m new to making crusts and also don’t have a food processor. I’m assuming but would love confirmation that your instructions for making pie crust by hand would be applicable here as well? Also, a regular round pan would be fine (if less decorative) than a quiche pan, correct? Thank you!
Vanessa — You can use the pie dough too. It will be more difficult to get this crust to come together by hand (you’ll need additional water). What do you mean by a regular round pan? What size? A cake or pie pan?
I only have a 9″ springform cake pan- will that do?
Vanessa — Yes. You just won’t use the whole volume.
Hi! I know you’ve heard this a lot but I love your blog. I’ve learned a lot from you, and yours is always the first source I turn to when I want to cook something. About this quiche: I have two HUGE leeks sitting in my fridge; would that be enough? About how many cups of chopped leeks am I looking for here? Also, can I use the tart shell from the French onion tart for this? Just made that today and it was awesome. Thanks!
Tamar — That should be fine. I don’t remember the amount of cups, but you can generally be flexible with quiche vegetables.
Excellent recipe for Easter. The pie crust was very easy to make. We did as you suggested and omitted putting butter on top. We used a deep dish for the quiche, so it took 40 minutes to cook.
Thank you.
Thank you Deb! My dough cracked a bit and I forgot to poke it with a fork so it puffed a lot, but the end result, while not beautiful, was very tasty and a hit with my family.
Can’t believe nobody has mentioned the excessive salt in the leek mixture. It looked like an awful lot when I added the 1 tsp, but I followed through with and the leeks came out unbearably salty – ruined the otherwise delicious quiche, which I could not serve to the next day’s guests as planned :(
Not more than (and maybe less) 1/2 tsp salt in with the leeks and it should be great.
I made this tonight and it was fabulous. My favorite quiche now. I made the crust by hand (because I hate getting my processor dirty and prefer to do it by hand) and it goes together the same as any pie crust. Just needed 4 TBs water. Crust came out quite lovely. I was confused about the tart pan size as the size is not mentioned. I used the tart pan I had, but realized when I prebaked the crust that I should have used my pie plate. I transferred it to my pie plate. Not as pretty, but the filling all fit. But the taste of the quiche was divine. Even my picky 7 y.o. managed to eat some of it.
I tried making a quiche for the first time, using your leek and mushroom recipe, for my sister’s birthday dinner. I did substitute freshly blended juice of a bunch of red grapes and a little vinegar instead of port and non-fat cheese instead of swiss cheese. It turned out great and my sister really liked it a lot. Just wanted to say I enjoyed making your recipe. Though the second time I made quiche with my own experimental filling of spinach and tofu keeping the pate brisse recipe same turned out horrible.
Made this this morning and it was awesome! Only used a tspn of salt for the leeks, and the quiche seems already pretty salty.
I see a few others have asked about what you meant by ‘seasonings’ in the last paragraph. I just added pepper. Did you add something else? Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth — Seasonings, I just meant salt and pepper.
I made this for Christmas brunch. It was delicious. I used the heavy cream and par baked the crust, even though I saw in other posts that you don’t always do that, because I didn’t want to risk a mushy crust. I will definitely make it again. I also love the zucchini ricotta galette.
Liz , please don’t take this to heart but I think it would only be fair of me to let you know that it might be worth it to go over your grammar, word usage etc. It took me quite a bit to figure out certain instructions. Sorry , really but….
I just made it for Easter brunch tomorrow…it’s in the oven now. one thing though, you say “adjust seasonings” but list no seasonings except salt in the ingredients. I improvised but wondered if you have some seasonings in mind (or if Julia did). Thanks for the recipe! My kitchen smells fantastic!
Delicious! I did, like others, make a few adjustments because of a lack of ingredients. Balsamic vinegar for port, feta cheese for swiss, only two large leeks but with an extra couple mushrooms instead. Finding myself too lazy/scared to make the pie crust, I used about 2 large sliced potatoes instead. And like the pie crust, you’ll want to par-bake the potatoes first before lining your pan. Speaking of pans, I used a 10″ spring form pan and it worked out quite well, at least for the potato crust version.
Now, I don’t know if it was the potatoes or the feta, but there is no way my quiche was ready after 20 to 30 minutes. Mine was in there for almost double that time for the quiche to be fully cooked. Or maybe this can be solved by other commenters suggestions of upping the eggs to 4 and using less cream.
Love how delicious and how forgiving this recipe is. Looking forward to trying this recipe with the pastry crust the next time!
I could totally eat quiche every day,too!
This is one of my absolute favorite dishes! I make it for every pot luck and it’s my go-to when people are coming over. I love it with a fresh baguette and simple green salad. So delicious! I always use dry vermouth because it’s always in my pantry and I love this with smoked Gouda. My mouth is watering now as my beautiful leeks stew. Mmm. Thank you!
Deb, beautiful dish. I’m guessing you used a one-piece ceramic tart dish and not an aluminum/tin tart dish with a removable bottom? Would you mention which you used? And if it was a one-piece tart dish, would love to know your secret for removing the quiche in one beautiful piece from the dish. Thanks.
This is a removable-bottom tart pan but it’s not a standard size. I think, if I remember correctly (it’s been donated since since it was non-standard, thus not terribly helpful for recipe testing!) it was 7.5 to 8-inch across with 1-inch sides, so it did make nice proportions for a quiche but even a recipe like this had extra that had to be baked off in ramekins.
made this for dinner today and it was surprisingly easy and utterly delicious. i baked it in my cast iron skillet and it came out beautifully. the crust especially was just divine. thank you, deb! :)
If you were to make this to freeze for later, how would you par bake it?
Thanks so much for this favorite and many others!!
Hi Heather — I don’t think I’d parbake it; just freeze it fully cooked and warm it when needed. A quiche should defrost/reheat well. A half-baked one would make me nervous.
I so badly wanted to make this (there were gorgeous mushrooms and leeks at the market this week) but we’re in the middle of a crazy heat wave and I have no AC in my apartment – just the idea of turning on my oven made me melt into a puddle. Then I think I developed a bit of heat stroke, because I decided it would be a brilliant idea to whip up a nighttime quiche once the evening air cooled things down a bit. So here I am, digging into my crazy midnight quiche….and it’s so gooood! Thanks Deb!
Deb, I was so glad that you mentioned whole milk instead of heavy cream for Quiche Lorraine. I did not want it to be so rich – I have had it that rich, and while delicious – I think whole milk is just as good. Thanks.
I made this for Christmas brunch… so delicious!
I made this yesterday and the flavors were amazing. I was worried because there wasn’t much seasoning, but it is perfect. Perhaps the people complaining about salt used salted butter. I used unsalted butter and the recommended amount of salt and it was perfect. I used 3 large eggs and a little over 1 cup of cream and the amount of filling was perfect to fill up a frozen pie crust. Next time I’ll make the crust from scratch.
Any chance we could have weight equivalents/ranges for the leeks and mushrooms?
Made this again today. One of my favourite quiches…..simply delightful
Made this tonight. I thought your spinach quiche was my favorite, but now I don’t know… this was awesome! Loved the mushrooms and leeks… I could have eaten all of them straight from the pan and never gotten around to making the quiche!
Another thing to add – my husband was out to a nice company-paid-for dinner, but no kids were allowed, and we did not have a babysitter, so I could not come. So what did I do? AS soon as the little one was down, I poured myself some wine and made this for myself for dinner. Lovely!
Another it’s / its typo: “When inside its warm, dry and fragrant with home-cooked awesomeness, that great big world out there does not compete.”
Wow. I have never had quiche before, and I made this (crustless). It was seriously one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. Now, my question – is it really only 3 eggs? Because that seemed like a lot of cream compared to the number of eggs, and other recipes that use 1.5 cups of cream use twice as many eggs. I cooked it for 40 minutes, and it barely jiggled when I pulled it out, but once we were eating it didn’t seem like it “set” properly. It was still amazing, Maybe I need to cook it longer or the vegetables still had too much liquid, but I wanted to double check about the number of eggs! Thanks so much!
Made it today and it came out all watery at the bottom when I cut out a slice. Did I do something wrong ?
I wonder if it overbaked — sometimes egg dishes can weep (a lot!) if overbaked.
I made this for out of town guests visiting. It turned out perfectly. I was able to speed up the process by purchasing cut and cleaned mushrooms, and cleaned, frozen leeks at Trader Joe’s. It did cook longer than the recipe stated. That could be from my oven or altitude. The browned and puffy indicator was what I used when the time wasn’t enough. I did dot the butter on. It was served at room temperature with salad, fresh berries, and white wine. The presentation was lovely.
Truly a special occasion dish!
This is my favorite quiche recipe! I save time by using a frozen pie crust (thaw and unroll the crust and pre-bake it) and shredded swiss and gruyere cheese from Trader Joe’s. Always a crowd pleaser and I also made it crustless once for a big family breakfast. I have paired this with the date, feta and red cabbage salad too with a chilled white wine for an interesting dinner or lunch.
Really excited to make this! If I wanted to bake this recipe as a dozen mini quiches (using a regular sized muffin tin), do you have any suggestions for how to adjust the recipe? Thank you!
This looks amazing – I have two questions. One, can you make it two days ahead? (if not, one day?) And can you use a 9″ springform pan? Thanks Deb – you’re the best!!! Use your recipes all the time.
Yes and yes. Quiche keeps well. And thank you!
Can you freeze after cooking?
I’d expect this to freeze well.
About how much leeks should I have once I have stewed them? A cup? More, less? And should there be no liquid left in them?
I didn’t measure them at the time but 1 cup sounds about right. They should be soft but the liquid will mixed in.
I don’t see the number of eggs used for the quiche fillings???
Instead of butter and cheese on top, I substituted buttery brie cheese and it was amazing!
Hi – this sounds/looks amazing, but I don’t know if I missed it – what size tart pan is used, (please & thank you)? 😊
A standard 9.5-inch should be fine here.
I used a 9.5 inch tart pan and two large leeks. There was way too much filling for the crust. The flavor was good though less cheesy than a typical American style quiche. I used milk instead of cream. The crust was decidedly under baked though I left it in 4-5 minutes longer than suggested. It maybe because I froze it to help with the retention of shape- which it did.
This was my first time making crust for my quiche. Why did I wait so long? Of course your recipe is perfect, and tastes infinitely better than any premade crust I have tried. Thanks!
Would like the damn recipe in a printable format.
There is a print icon that leads to a print template at the bottom of each recipe, where it says “DO MORE:” You can also click CTRL or ⌘ + P from any recipe post and it will take you to a streamlined print template.
This is a wonderful recipe. Specifically, this is the best pastry recipe I’ve ever made and I have been searching long and hard for a savory, flakey, melt-in-the-mouth pastry crust. This one is just right and I will be using it for all my pastry needs in the future (I don’t have a food processor and therefore used my pastry blender/hands and it was perfect).
The filling is delicious and came together so well. Many times in my quiches the vegetables etc. are separate from the egg mixture after cooking and, despite prolonged efforts, still weep out a lot of water. The braising of the onions and the alternate way of sauteing the mushrooms rendered a beautifully textured quiche with no weepy juices and a fully incorporated egg and veggie mixture. I will be using this method in the future. So delicious and pretty!
Additionally, this is a great recipe to use as a base to change around the ingredients to whatever is in season or suits your fancy.
Thank you SmittenKitchen!
Wow – this was the best quiche I have ever made – of course, I substituted a bit – and won’t go into that (to not be that poster – you know “used chocolate instead of chick peas, and it was awful)
But, what worked? Caramelized onions – always a yum.
Used whole wheat pastry flour – and liked the crust more than any other!
8” glass pan – perfect size.
Thanks for another Winner.
I just wanted to come here to thank you. Long time fan, very rare commenter. Tonight my entire family LOVED this quiche. Everyone liking the same dish is about as rare as a blue moon. It was absolutely delicious. You’ve reached legend status in our household because of this and brown butter crispy treats. :)
I made this quiche exactly per the recipe taking Deb’s suggestion of leaving out the butter on top. It was glorious. Perfect texture with amazing flavor. It’s more time consuming than your typical what-ever-is-in-the-fridge version of weeknight quiche but this was absolutely worth it. I made the dough and reduced leeks the night before so it came together for a quick dinner. Paired well with a salad.
Deb I was terrified to make this, I’ve always had dough disasters, and I made it today and it’s just incredible. I made no subs except extra port, it was a long day. I feel so badass being able to make quiche for my family. Thank you.
Where it reads “Beat the eggs, cream or milk and seasoning”, what seasoning are they meaning? Just a bit of salt and pepper?
Yes, salt and pepper. Sorry for the confusion.
What size tart pan is right for this recipe. Hoping to make it tonight to celebrate my father’s 91st birthday tomorrow!
Oops – Just saw your reply to someone else: 9.5″ tart pan? Also would a glass pie dish work?
First time making quiche and had mixed results. To start, I used the David Tanis NYT basic short-crust pastry recipe for the shell since it includes weight in grams for a 9.5″ tart pan (what I have), and pre-baked according to this recipe. I used leeks but swapped out the mushrooms with swiss chard and made everything else as written, using half & half and adding fresh nutmeg. As soon as I poured the liquid mixture into the shell it immediately overflowed and seeped out through the bottom of the tart pan, onto the baking sheet I had placed the whole thing on top of. I continued to bake anyway for 30 minutes and it looked quite lovely, the flavor was on point, however the bottom of the crust was completely raw.
A couple thoughts… I could have pre-baked the shell longer to ensure the bottom was already browned, I could have not placed the tart pan on a baking sheet if that prevented the bottom from baking quicker, I could have used a different pastry recipe yielding more dough (perhaps this one!), thus more dough to create a high wall and less chance of the liquid filling seeping out.
I love the idea of homemade quiche and am determined to get it right!
Love your cooking!!!
Super yummy but definitely a project! I had the same issue as another, with too much filling (only use 4 leeks if they are tiny!) and also had the filling immediately leak through the bottom of the pan before it got in the oven. I ended up baking it on parchment paper on a baking tray, and it was done after 30 minutes’ time but that parchment paper was difficult to get off since the leaked filling had baked and sealed it together with the tart pan. That being said, this quiche is stellar in terms of flavor, and all the prep is worth it! It makes me want to invest in a bigger tart pan (I’d slightly increase the dough amount to compensate) just to have more of it once it’s made. Thanks, Deb!