Page 312 - Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes, and Other Pastries Reinvented

A Quiche For All Seasons

MAKES 1
(9- /23- )

’ , . It’s one of the best “kitchen-
sink” recipes on earth, but it comes wrapped in such fancy French
culinary esteem that you need only add “quiche” to the end of your
creation and everyone at the dinner table will say “oooooh!” and then
“ahhhhh!”

Quiche at its heart is a custard pie, its essential elements being
heavy cream, milk, eggs, and seasoning (and usually a nice dose of
cheese). If you keep the basic ratios of the custard in your head, you
can throw in just about anything that’s hanging out in your fridge.

Quick Puff Pastry (page 22) ⅛ batch
lardon, cubed 6 ounces 170 g

heavy cream 1 cup 240 ml
whole milk ½ cup 120 ml

eggs 3
salt ½ teaspoon 3 g

white pepper ½ teaspoon 1.5 g
nutmeg pinch

finely grated Gruyère 1 cup 120 g
cheese

1
. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Roll out the dough and use it to

line a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate. Dock the dough and freeze it for 20
minutes. Line the crust with parchment, fill it with pie weights or
dried beans, and bake it for 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights
and parchment and bake the crust for 5 minutes more, or just until
the raw-dough sheen is gone. Set it aside.

2
. In a heavy skillet, sauté the lardon cubes until they are crispy and
the fat is rendered. Transfer them to a plate lined with a paper
towel.