Cheese And Leek Quiche | Greedy Gourmet (2024)

A quiche is a staple French dish. It's a pie crust filled with an egg, cream, cheese filling, other vegetables, herbs, and sometimes meat, and then baked to perfection.

Quiche is typically served for lunch with a leafy salad, although it can also be enjoyed as a quick dinner or a 'pick me up' brunch.

It could be for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the dairy to egg ratio. You must get this right because your egg will turn out dry and rubbery if you don't use enough cream. Make sure you follow the precise measurements below.

Secondly, it could be that your quiche is overcooked.

Firstly, it should have a lightly golden brown coloring on top. The best quiche is always ever-so-slightly underdone – there should be a slight wobble in the center of the quiche. It will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven.

An excellent way to test the quiche at that 'just about cooked' stage is to insert a knife into the middle. The blade should be almost clean, with just a little moisture.

This is where pre-baking the pie crust comes in.

When making a pastry-based dish with a very wet filling, the pastry crust first needs time to bake without the filling. If not, it will become soggy on the bottom. The typical quiche filling is an egg-based mixture, so it must be pre-baked.

When pre-baking or 'blind baking' your quiche crust, use baking beans or rice. This keeps the base of the crust weighed down and prevents little pockets of air from building up underneath.

This quiche can be partly made ahead of time.

This tart is best made on the day, but you can bake the pastry and make the filling the day before, then fill and bake on the day. Leave the pastry covered in cling film in the kitchen and store the filling in the fridge.

It might be easy, but reheating quiche can be a little tricky. Get it wrong, and you'll end up with a soggy, gooey mess. Get it right, and it'll be as good as the first time.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to reheat quiche and retain that all-important taste and texture. Please review our guide on How to Reheat Quiche for foolproof, step-by-step instructions on each method.

Ingredients

UnitsScale

• 500g shortcrust pastry, fresh or frozen and defrosted
• 50g butter
• 1kg leeks, trimmed, thinly sliced and washed
• 500ml whipping cream
• 4 large eggs
• 200g (8oz) hard, crumbly cheese like Cheshire, grated

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C/400°F/gas 6).
2. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to line a 30x20cm rectangular or 30cm round loose bottom flan tin, leaving an overhang of pastry around the sides of the tin.
3. Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork to prevent air bubbles from forming during baking.
4. Line the tart tin with baking parchment and fill it with ceramic baking beans or dried pulses to weigh it down during blind baking.
5. Bake the pastry in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is firm.
6. Remove the tart tin from the oven and carefully lift out the baking parchment filled with beans. The base should be partially cooked.
7. Return the pastry case to the oven and cook for about 5 minutes more until the edges are golden brown and biscuity.
8. Trim off any excess pastry using a small serrated knife, following the edge of the tart tin.
9. While the pastry is blind baking, melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and stir until they are well coated. Season the leeks to taste, then continue to fry gently for about 10 minutes until they have softened and any excess liquid has evaporated. Allow the leeks to cool slightly.
10. Mix the cream and eggs in a separate bowl, ensuring they are well combined. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
11. Stir the cooked leeks and cheese into the cream and egg mixture until everything is evenly distributed.
12. Once the blind baking is complete and the pastry is golden brown and biscuity, remove the pastry case from the oven.
13. Tip the leek and cheese filling into the prepared pastry case, ensuring the leeks are evenly spread.
14. Return the filled pastry to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the quiche is lightly browned on top and slightly wobbly in the center. The residual heat will continue to cook the center as the quiche cools.
15. Once baked, remove the quiche from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
16. The quiche can be enjoyed warm or cold, making it a versatile and delicious dish.

• With this tart, I enjoyed a crisp, green, leafy salad with red pepper, cucumber, pecans, and vinaigrette.
• If your pastry case has any holes or cracks, use the uncooked pastry scraps to patch them up. Brush generously with egg white and seal it thoroughly. Then, please return it to the oven for another 3 minutes to dry the egg white.
• This tart is best made on the day, but you can bake the pastry and make the filling the day before, then fill and bake on the day. Leave the pastry covered in cling film in the kitchen and store the filling in the fridge.