This classic Quiche Lorraine is a savory French tart baked in an open faced pastry crust filled with Gruyère or Swiss cheese, bacon and a rich, eggy custard! My tasty quiche is baked in an easy to make all butter pie crust and and served warm for a special occasion breakfast or brunch treat!
Quiche Lorraine Recipe
This essential French recipe is a fantastic all-purpose meal! The classic Quiche Lorraine is perfect when served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner and is completely suitable for special occasions as well! Quiche Lorraine is literally the reason America fell in love with quiches ( a huge 'thank you' to the incredible Julia Child for her work on teaching French cooking here in America )!
The combination of bacon and Swiss cheese make this tasty baked tart absolutely delicious! A good quality Gruyère cheese is recommended, which is true for all ingredients. The better quality ingredients used, the more amazing your quiche will be!!
Having quiche for breakfast, brunch or dinner? Thinking about what side dishes to have with quiche? Follow the link, I got you covered with lots of ideas on what to serve with quiche!
How To Make Quiche Lorraine
Start out with preheating your oven to 375ºF ( 190ºC ) and preparing your butter pie crust ( you will need one half of the double pie crust recipe ). Place the pie dough into a 9 inch pie dish or tart pan, flute or trim the crust edges as desired.
Blind Bake The Pie Crust
Place a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil over the pie dough ( rounded or approximately the size of your pie dish, plus a few inches for easy removal ) and fill the dough about half way with pie weights. *Dried beans or rice can also be used for blind baking weights. Do not use any baked beans or rice for cooking after use, store them with a label that states they are for re-using in your baking.
Transfer the pan to a baking sheet and blind bake the pie crust in your preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove the pie weights once cooled enough to handle.
Crisp the Bacon and Sauté Onions
While the pie crust is blind baking, start your cut bacon in a frying pan or non-stick skillet. Fry the bacon over medium high heat for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until browned and crispy. Remove the cooked bacon from heat and transfer them to a paper towel lined plate ( leaving some of the bacon grease in your frying pan or skillet ).
Add the finely diced white onion to your bacon grease in the frying pan and sauté for 3 - 5 minutes. The onion should become slightly transparent, or see through, when ready to add to the quiche. You can, of course, cook the onion until it reaches your desired level of tenderness. If you have kids that won't touch this classic quiche if it has onions in it, simply omit them from your quiche.
Assemble the Quiche Lorraine
Remove the cooked onion from heat and combine with the crisped bacon pieces. Spread one half of the bacon and sautéed onions in the pie crust.
Cover the bacon and onion with the cubed Gruyère or Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese, then top the cheeses with the remaining bacon and onion.
Combine the wet ingredients ( eggs, heavy cream, optional Tabasco sauce ) with seasoning ( salt, pepper, nutmeg ) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the egg mixture until smooth and well combined, then pour the custard over the bacon and cheese in the pie crust.
Bake the filled quiche lorraine, still on the baking sheet, at 375ºF ( 190ºC ) for 25 - 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out from the center of the quiche clean. Remove from the oven when the quiche is done, and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Allow your absolutely delicious Quiche Lorraine to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
The baked quiche will be slightly puffed when initially removed from the oven, and will settle once cooled.
Your finished quiche can be served hot, warm, or cold. The incredible and fantastic chef Julie Child would serve this quiche hot out of the oven, with a salad and a cool bottle of white wine!
Quiche Lorraine
Ingredients
- 1 butter pie crust (see recipe - use half the double crust recipe)
- 4-6 strips bacon (thick sliced bacon is recommended)
- 1 small white onion (finely diced, or use a medium shallot)
- 1 cup Gruyere Swiss cheese (cubed)
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
- 3 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream (or half & half, or a combination of 1 cup each milk and heavy cream)
- ½ teaspoon each, salt & pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional, cut into small pieces)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Line a 9 inch pie dish or tart pan with the uncooked butter pie crust.
- Cover the pie dough with a round piece of parchment paper. Use baking beads to fill about halfway up the pie pan. *If you do not have baking beads you can use dry beans to fill your crust for blind baking.
- Place your pie dish or tart pan onto a baking sheet and blind bake the crust for approximately 10 minutes and then remove from oven. When cool enough, remove the baking beads (or beans) and parchment paper from inside the crust.
- Cut bacon into ¼ inch thick pieces and cook in a frying pan at medium high heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. When the bacon is crisp remove from pan and set bacon aside on a paper towel lined plate to cool.
- Add the sliced onion to the frying pan and saute for 3-5 minutes until onion is translucent, or until it reaches your desired level of tenderness. Remove from heat and combine with bacon and spread half of the bacon and onion in the pre-baked quiche crust.
- Spread the Gruyere or Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese over the bacon and onion in the pie crust. Top with the remaining half of the bacon and sauteed onion.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper (and Tabasco if using) and whisk them together lightly. Pour the egg mixture over the bacon, onions and cheeses. Top with optional butter bits for an extra rich quiche.
- Return the filled pie dish or tart pan and baking sheet to the oven. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted at the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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