A French Quiche Lorraine is a traditional recipe that any chef in France knows how to make; at least that’s what I was told and it all begins with the dough. In my variation, a Quiche Lorraine with Tomatoes, I used pancetta instead of bacon and I added parsley and tomatoes.
Any pie, savory or sweet, begins with the dough, the basic of the pie and when it comes to pies, I am usually a lazy pie dough maker; I frequently buy pre-made pie bottoms. This time, I did take the time to make it myself.
The bottom of this pie is somewhat crumbly; it falls apart easily; because of the ratio flour:butter = 2:1. The addition of the 1 egg, does keep the dough together, but it is vulnerable to breaking. What I like about this ratio is after the quiche is done; it give a certain dryness to the dough. The cheese part is rather rich and a dry pie bottom complement each other very nicely.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Eggs
- Pancetta – pancetta adds more flavor than bacon to the quiche. I used thinly sliced pancetta, because I like it widely dispersed rather than chunks of bacon in just a few places; but of course you can change that to your liking.
- Olive oil
- Milk
- Creme fraiche
- Gruyere cheese – cave-aged Gruyere or Comte, instead of Gruyere cheese, if you want to keep it in the Alpine Cheese family.
- Grape tomatoes
- Parsley
- Nutmeg
How to Make Quiche Lorraine with Tomatoes
- Transfer the flour to a bowl and add the butter. Cut the butter into tiny dice, add 1 egg, salt and water and knead into a supple dough. Wrap in foil and allow to rest for a min. of 1 hour in the fridge.
- Grease a 9-inch quiche-form or any other from with butter and dust with flour.
- Cook the pancetta in a skillet with olive oil and cook crisp in approx. 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate covered with kitchen towel and drain.
- Combine milk, creme fraiche, grated Gruyere cheese, eggs in a bowl and mix. Add pepper and nutmeg to taste. Be sparse with the salt, as pancetta is a salty bacon. Add chopped parsley and mix.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it on a flour dusted counter. Roll in into a circle of approx. 10 inches and transfer it to the 9-inch quiche form, covering bottom and sides. With a fork punch some tiny holes in the bottom to prevent that from rising.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Transfer pancetta to the quiche form, divide evenly over the bottom. Pour cheese mixture in the quiche-form.
- Divide tomato-halves over the quiche form and place a parsley sprig on top as well (optional).
- Place quiche in the middle of the oven and bake for approx. 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
I decided to make a Quiche Lorraine with Tomatoes because of a slightly lighter touch and the addition of the parsley is mostly because of the color. Tiny green speckles all over the quiche, will give it just a little extra color.
Quiche Lorraine with Tomatoes is a perfect lunch dish, or serve it at dinner time with a salad. You can eat it cold and warm. Really great!
Quiche Lorraine with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4.5 ounces butter
- 9 ounces all-purpose flour
- 5 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cold water
- 6 ounces pancetta cut in small pieces
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2/3 cups milk
- 8 ounces creme fraiche
- 4 ounces Gruyere cheese grated
- 6 grape tomatoes
- 6 sprigs parsley chopped
- salt and pepper
- nutmeg
Instructions
- Transfer the flour to a bowl and add the butter. Cut the butter into tiny dice, add 1 egg, salt and water and knead into a supple dough. Wrap in foil and allow to rest for a min. of 1 hour in the fridge.
- Grease a 9-inch quiche-form or any other from with butter and dust with flour.
- Cook the pancetta in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil and cook crisp in approx. 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate covered with kitchen towels and drain.
- Combine milk, creme fraiche, grated Gruyere cheese, 4 eggs in a bowl and mix. Add pepper and nutmeg to taste. Be sparse with the salt, as pancetta is a salty bacon. Add chopped parsley and mix.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it on a flour dusted counter. Roll in into a circle of approx. 10 inches and transfer it to a 9-inch quiche form, covering bottom and sides. With a fork punch some tiny holes in the bottom to prevent that from rising.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Transfer pancetta to the quiche form, divide evenly over the bottom. Pour cheese mixture in the quiche-form.
- Divide tomato-halves over the quiche form and place a parsley sprig on top as well (optional).
- Place quiche in the middle of the oven and bake for approx. 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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