GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Lisa O'Connell of Sauce Anna Lisa is serving up a perfect dish for your upcoming holiday guests. Delicious, deep dish quiche. A make ahead fancy but not too fussy way to share and serve for the holidays!
Deep Dish Quiche
1 14-inch pie crust * see notes
6 large eggs
1 Cup heavy cream
½ Cup whole milk
1 Cup cheese, finely shredded gruyere or mozzarella
½ Cup mushrooms, fresh, sliced
½ Cup pancetta, pan fried, crisp
1 Teaspoon thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Coat a spring form or cake pan with butter and place pastry dough inside. Press the sides firmly to the bottom and sides all around the pan. Gently pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork all over the surface of the dough.
Freeze pie crust for 20-30 minutes before baking.
Once pie crust is well chilled, cover with parchment and using dry beans or pie weighs fill center to hold down crust while baking. Bake pie crust at 350 for 20- 30 minutes, checking for golden in color and firm to hard in texture. When it’s golden brown and very firm remove from oven to cool.
In a medium sauté pan, over medium heat, add a swirl of olive oil and a teaspoon of butter. Add sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt and pepper, Sautee until caramelized and transfer to a bowl to cool.
Chop pancetta and add to sauté pan over medium heat, fry until crisp and transfer to a bowl and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl add eggs, whisk together until well combined. Add cream, milk and a few turns of salt and pepper. Whisk together again until there is no separation of eggs and cream.
Once pie crust is cooled sprinkle shredded cheese across bottom. Add a layer of desired ingredients such as sautéed mushrooms, leeks onions along with an even sprinkling of crisped pancetta or bacon and top with remaining cheese. Pour egg mixture over to fill crust to the top.
Bake quiche in over a sheet pan at 350 for 30-45 minutes depending on size of pan used- Keep an eye on the top of the quiche after 30 minutes. If it begins to get too brown and is not yet cooked through, tent with foil to stop the browning. Quiche is done when a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle, comes out clean
Pastry Crust
It is easiest to purchase a pre prepared crust. Simply unrolling it and par baking as mentioned above. There is no shame in buying a crust and as long as its par baked until firm and golden, it will serve the purpose well. However, if you have the time and want to do a crust from scratch, here is the recipe
Pastry Crust recipe
1 ¾ Cup Flour
1 Teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 stick butter, cubed, cold.
Whisk eggs and salt together until combined. In a food processor, pulse flour with cold cubed butter until just combined and grainy looking- about 7-10 pulses. Add egg mixture and pulse a few times again until just combined.
Turn ball of dough on to a piece of plastic wrap and push together to form a ball, using the plastic wrap to contain it. Flatten into a flat round piece and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to a day or two.
When ready to use, remove dough from refrigerator and lightly flour a work surface. Roll dough out to about 14 inches wide and long – this will easily fit a 9-inch deep dish spring form or baking pan. Alternatively, this recipe would work for two 9-inch pie pans. Once dough is rolled out and even you can pick it up with the rolling pin by rolling it on top and unrolling once you get it to the prepared springform pan. Push all sides down against the pan and pierce bottom lightly with a fork. Cover with parchment and par bake or blind bake for 20-30 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Continue with above mentioned quiche recipe for desired filling and finishing.
Greens and Grain Quiche
4-6 large eggs (depending on baking dish)
½ Cup half and half or heavy cream
½ Cup milk
1 Cup packed spinach or chopped blanched broccoli (something green)
½ Cup shredded cheese such as Gruyere or Italian blend
½ Cup prepared grains such as wheat berries
1 frozen piecrust
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400
Unroll piecrust into pie dish and prick bottom with a fork. Place in oven for 10 minutes or until just starting to brown. Remove and set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and cream add a pinch of salt and pepper. Note, for a kick of heat adding ¼ teaspoon of cayenne is a great addition.
Layer bottom of piecrust with cheese and then top with spinach or greens. Pour egg mixture over spinach and cheese and bake for 30-40 minutes or until eggs are set.
If crust begins to brown before eggs are cooked- tent with foil.
Notes:
Fillings can vary- anything from blanched or sautéed greens and vegetables to meats your favorite cheeses and/or and herbs. This is where you can either prepare a rich and simple custard textured quiche or one that is simply flecked with cheese and aromatics or a veggie or meat packed dish. The variable becomes the amount of eggs and cream which depends on how much vegetable/meat/cheese you are using. So, if you run out of egg mixture simply whisk together a few extra eggs, cream and a pinch of salt and pepper to completely cover and fill pie crust. A good rule of thumb is 2 eggs to ¼ Cup of milk or cream.
So much of the amount of egg mixture in the recipe depends on the veggies or fillings you choose to add. The more bulk you have in fillings, the less egg mixture you will need. Also, the size of your pan whether It’s a pie crust or a deep-dish spring form, will dictate whether you need more or less. The recipe provided gives a good base for a traditional 9-inch spring form pan.