Recipes and tips for a delicious quiche
The arrival of fall makes you want to get back into the kitchen, but you don’t always have ideas on what to make…
So why not try making a quiche? Originally from Lorraine in the East of France, it’s a pie crust filled with an egg, cream, bacon and cheese mixture.
The texture of a perfect quiche should be light and creamy. You can add whatever vegetables and toppings you want, making quiches simple, tasty, practical and delicious.
Here are a few tips for a mouth-watering quiche using original recipes that will make you drool, as well as how to store it.
Basic quiche recipe
Quiche is always made with a pie crust base. Although usually a shortcrust, you can use shortbread or puff pastry depending on your taste. Whichever dough you choose, «blind bake» it first. That means baking the dough without a filling by putting dry chickpeas in it, for example, or by pricking it everywhere with a fork to prevent it from puffing up. This trick will give you a flaky pie crust base!
You can also make the dough ahead of time without baking, and even freeze it in the pie plate. This step will considerably reduce prep time when you need it!
Shortcrust dough
For starters, shortcrust pastry is the most common type of dough. Quick and easy to make, it’ll be perfect for your quiches because it’s light and not too crumbly.
Click here to learn how to make shortcrust pastry.
Shortbread dough
Shortbread dough is similar to shortcrust dough. It’s thicker, slightly sweeter and a little more crumbly than shortcrust dough making it perfect for sweet pies.
Click here for the shortbread pastry recipe.
Puff pastry
Finally, puff pastry is made up of several layers of dough that create a light and flaky texture. It requires more technique and time than the other 2 types, but is perfect for many pastries.
Here’s a step-by-step puff pastry recipe for those who dare.
Enfin, la pâte feuilletée est composée de plusieurs couches de pâtes créant une texture friable, légère et croustillante. Elle nécessite plus de technique et de temps que les deux autres types de pâtes, mais elle sera parfaite pour de nombreuses pâtisseries.
Voici une recette de pâte feuilletée pas à pas pour les plus téméraires!
Crustless quiche
Is a quiche without a crust really a quiche?
There is a recipe close to a crustless quiche. It’s called a frittata. From Italy, the frittata is halfway between an omelette and a quiche. Since it contains fewer dairy products than quiche, it’s firmer and tastes eggier.
If you want to make a crustless quiche (which wouldn’t technically be a quiche then), our vegetable prosciutto frittata should do the trick.
Want an even more original, personal quiche? Replace the dough with a cauliflower crust, made easy with our Riced cauliflower. It’ll let you to reduce the carbohydrate content, as well as add protein to your dish even without meat. Since cauliflower is gluten-free, it’s a winning combination.
To do this, cook the riced cauliflower for a few minutes in a pot of salted water. Drain, then add an egg, cheese and seasonings to taste. Now just spread the preparation in a mould with removable bottom and you’re done!
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Assembling your quiche
Once you’ve prepared the crust, you can assemble it.
Follow these steps:
- Preheat the oven to 360 °F (180 °C).
- Roll out the dough and place it in a round dish. Prick the bottom with a fork to prevent it from puffing up during baking.
- Once the oven is ready, bake the dough for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, choose the filling ingredients and pre-cook them in a frying pan.
- Add the sour cream, milk and beaten eggs. (Adding a bit of milk prevents the quiche from becoming too firm. This way it’ll be light and creamy).
- Take the semi-cooked crust out of the oven and pour the preparation into it.
- Bake for about 20 minutes.
- Your quiche is ready to be enjoyed!
Our recipe ideas for creative and delicious quiches
Here are some recipe ideas that will change up the classic quiche Lorraine:
Quiche is a great way to use up leftovers.
Read our tips on how to avoid waste.
You can also prepare quiche with leftovers for even more gourmet recipes. Discover more ways to reinvent Thanksgiving leftovers in our dedicated article.
Some of our favourite toppings for quiche:
How to store your quiche?
Once your quiche is cooked, you can keep it in the fridge for a few days. However, if you’re planning to eat it later, it’s best to freeze it. Note that it’s important to use only fresh ingredients and to wash them well for optimal conservation.
To freeze cooked quiche, just cut it into small pieces to make it easier to store, then defrost when you need them.
Note that you should consume a frozen quiche within 2 months.
Defrosting your quiche:
- Take the portions you want out of the freezer.
- To prevent the crust from getting soggy, put them in the fridge for a few hours until thawed.
- Preheat the oven to 360 °F (180 °C).
- Arrange the portions on a baking dish and put them in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
Our tips for making the perfect quiche:
Reheating in the microwave
You can also reheat quiche in the microwave for a few minutes if you don’t have time, but the dough will be a lot less firm!
Make your quiche moister
If you find your quiche is too dry, put a glass of water in the microwave and reheat for a few minutes. This will make it moister.
Prepare the day before
If you don’t have time, you can prepare the pre-cooked crust and filling ahead of time and keep them in the fridge. Then, all youneed to do is put the elements together and add the egg, cream and milk mixture before putting it in the oven!
Prepare ahead of time and freeze
If you plan to freeze the quiche, undercook it to prevent it from overcooking when reheated in the oven after defrosting.
Pre-cook filling ingredients
Pre-cooking the filling ingredients like veggies will bring flavour and consistency to your quiche. For veggies that retain water, drain them well to prevent your quiche from becoming soggy.
We also recommend pre-cooking animal proteins so they keep properly.
Reducing the calories in your quiche
As well as replacing the regular pie crust with a cauliflower crust, you can also use egg whites instead of whole eggs and replace animal protein with turkey, which is low in fat, or plant protein.
How about you? What’s your favourite recipe? Share your tips in the comments section!
