Well Preserved

I am not a Quiche purist.

The great thing about Quiche, to me, is that it is an idea – maybe even a philosophy.  There’s no great rules and the ones that do exist can all be broken.  As long as I have dough (optional to some), cheese (optional to some) and eggs (pretty much a given though I’m sure there are exceptions), then I have a Quiche. 

Quiche is an amazing vessel for any home-dried goods you have.  Dried mushrooms, celeriac, chives, ramps, tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, fire-roasted peppers and more all make great additions.  If you’re a meat-eater you may also enjoy homemade bacon (especially if smoked).

You can use fresh ingredients as well although the prep time increases slightly – using dried ingredients makes this a super fast dish that can be assembled in minutes.

Our basic ingredients:

• 1 homemade pie crust. For the Quiche pictured below we doubled our recipe and used 75% of it to make a thicker pie base and the additional 25% for the loose lattice that is the top
• 6+1 eggs at room temperature.  We used 6 duck eggs and once chicken egg (in part because I ran out of duck eggs).  The chicken egg was used to brown the crust at the end.
• 2 cups of cheese.  Any will do – I like to combine several types – this one had 1 cup of ricotta 1 cup of 18 month-old cloth-wrapped cheddar.
• Other ingredients per above – we used dried chives, bacon, fresh ramp leaves, dried celeriac, dried hot peppers and our onion flakes. 
• Salt and pepper to your liking (I use white pepper as it’s a little more subtle and not as visible in our mix).

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Crack 6 eggs in an oversized bowl.  Mix vigorously, ideally with a whisk. (Many add 1-2 cups of milk or cream as well – I skip and keep this fairly thick.  It’s not quite a frittata with the amount of cheese I use but if you wanted a lighter Quiche you could easily ‘thin it out’ by adding milk here)
3. Toss in all ingredients other than the cheese – mix well. 
4. Dump cheese and fold it gently in.  You don’t have to be to ‘fragile’ but I like to be delicate at this stage. The Quiche should be thick – as thick or thicker than pancake batter.  If it isnt’, add more cheese or dried ingredients which will help thicken things as they rehydrate in the liquid as things cook.
5. Pour the lot into the pie crust, level with your spoon.
6. If you have leftover dough, lay strips across.  There’s no magic here for (i.e. these aren’t braided over/under each other- they are laid in one direction and then the other.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and brush with remaining beaten egg.  I like to use the back of a spoon/ drizzle the egg as it makes the browning uneven and to me that’s more rustic/ interesting.  If you want an ‘even’ brown, brush with a pastry or bread brush.
8. Bake for an additional 10-20 minutes.  A toothpick should come out clean and the pie should just jiggle when lightly shaken.  You’re looking for af fairly firm set and you will know it when you see it.  Honest.

That’s all there is to it!

Any other tips fromt he veterans out there?  We love to hear your ideas and variations!