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Eric Akis: A quiche fit for a king

When the book and guide to true masculinity Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche was published in 1982, I protested. I was a 20 something “real man” attending chef school who learned how to make quiche, and loved eating it.
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This rich quiche in a flaky crust is flavoured with sauteed leeks, peppers, chorizo and two types of Italian cheese.

When the book and guide to true masculinity Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche was published in 1982, I protested. I was a 20 something “real man” attending chef school who learned how to make quiche, and loved eating it.

It turned out that book was a satirical look at how to be a macho man. That was a good thing because the macho men I knew then and now never ever turned down a slice of ultra flaky, egg-rich pie enhanced with flavourful fillings. In fact, most often they wanted a second slice.

I’m 50-something now and still making quiche, and in my hunt for new recipes I have discovered two main styles.

The most common one is to simply fill a raw pie crust with a beaten egg mixture and your desired fillings. You then bake the quiche until the egg mixture is set and the pastry is cooked.

The other method, which I have used in today’s recipe that might be nice to serve for Easter brunch or lunch, is more time-consuming, but the end product is more refined.

For this style of quiche, rather than put the egg mixture directly into the crust, you instead first warm the cream and/or milk used in the mixture to the scalding point. You then very slowly mix it into beaten eggs. Warming the mixture in this way results in an egg filling that when baked is smooth, creamy and custard-like.

The warmed egg mixture then gets poured into a crust that’s been blind-baked, a process of first baking it without the filling. To prevent the crust from puffing when you blind-bake it, you first line it with foil and fill it with raw rice, dried beans or pie weights.

You need to blind-bake the crust for this style of quiche for two reasons.

Firstly, if you poured the warm filling into a cold, raw pie crust the fat in the dough could melt and seep out of it.

Secondly, because the egg mixture is warm it cooks more quickly. If you put it into a raw crust, the crust would take longer to cook than the filling and the eggs would overcook and could curdle.

No matter what style of quiche you choose, make sure the ingredients used to fill it don’t seep water into the egg mixture as it bakes, as that too could give the eggs a curdled look when cooked. Ingredients that might do that are blanched vegetables, such as spinach or broccoli, or frozen seafood, such as cooked shrimp or crab.

If adding these types of ingredients to your quiche, before doing so, be sure you thoroughly squeeze out the excess water in them and/or thoroughly pat them dry.

I flavoured today’s quiche recipe Mediterranean-style by adding chorizo sausage, peppers and Italian cheese. If that combination is not appealing to you, feel free to substitute some of those ingredients with others that appeal more. For example, one of the Italian cheeses used could be replaced with an equal weight of soft goat cheese, pulled into small nuggets. The chorizo sausage could be replaced with small cubes of crisply cooked pancetta, or with some chopped prosciutto.

 

Quiche with Chorizo, Leeks, Peppers and Italian Cheese

This rich quiche with a flaky crust is flavoured Mediterranean-style. Create a nice meal for brunch or lunch by serving it with a green or Caesar salad and some Prosecco, an Italian sparking wine.

 

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: About 65 minutes

Makes: Six to eight (1 wedge each) servings

 

1 deep-dish pie crust (see recipe below)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leek (see Note 1)

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 1/4 cups half and half (10 per cent) cream

4 large eggs

1 tsp dried oregano

75 to 100 grams asiago cheese, grated

75 to 100 grams provolone cheese, grated

1 (about 90 gram) dried chorizo sausage, cut into tiny cubes (see Note 2)

• salt and white pepper to taste

 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prick the bottom of the pie crust several times with a fork. Carefully line the pie crust with foil, and then fill with pie weights, raw rice or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes in the centre of the oven. Remove crust from the oven; carefully remove the foil and weights and then cool to room temperature (see Note 3)

While that occurs, heat the oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the leeks and bell pepper and cook until the leek is softened but not browned, about five minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat until the yolks and whites are thoroughly blended. Place the cream in a small pot and bring to just below the simmering point. Very, very slowly whisk 1/2 cup of the cream into the eggs to temper them. Now slowly whisk in the remaining cream. Season the egg mixture with the oregano, salt and pepper.

Place half the asiago and provolone cheese into the bottom of the pie crust. Top with three quarters of the leek/red pepper mixture and chorizo sausage. Pour in the egg mixture. Top with the remaining cheese, leek/red pepper mixture and sausage.

Bake the quiche in the middle of a 350 F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the egg mixture is set. Let the quiche rest five to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note 1: 1 medium to large leek, white and pale green part only, halved lengthwise, washed, patted dry, and then thinly sliced, should yield the 1 1/2 cups required for this recipe.

 

Note 2: Dried chorizo sausage is a cured and ready-to-eat product sold in the deli section of some supermarkets. You also find it for sale at stores specializing in sausages and the like.

 

Note 3: If you weighted the crust with rice or beans, once cooled, place them in a jar and store them away until you need to blind-bake a pie crust again.

 

Flaky Pie Dough

This recipe is from my book Everyone Can Cook Everything. The generous amount of shortening, and a touch of butter, make an ultra-flaky crust.

It makes enough dough for two, single-crust quiches or pies.

 

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time

Cooking time: none

Makes: dough for two single-crust pies

 

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups cold vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 large egg, beaten with 1/3 cup ice-cold water

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. With a pastry cutter, two forks, or with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cut the shortening and butter into the flour until well blended. Pour the egg/water mixture into the bowl; gently work it until it forms a loose, moist dough that just holds together. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a ball. Cut the ball in half. Press each half into a 1/2-inch-thick disc. Wrap and refrigerate one disc for 20 minutes before rolling out; tightly wrap and freeze the other dough for another time.

To make a crust, unwrap the refrigerated dough and place on a lightly floured work surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough from the centre out into a round large enough to fit a 10-inch wide pie plate with a four-cup capacity.

When the round of dough is ready, carefully fold in half and lay it across the centre of the pie plate. Carefully unfold it and gently nestle it into the bottom of the plate. Don’t worry if the crust breaks in places; simply press it back together. Crimp the top edges of the crust to create a finished look and trim off any excess dough from the side of the plate.

Refrigerate and firm up the pie crust for 20 minutes and it’s ready to be blind-baked.

Eric Akis is the author of the hardcover book Everyone Can Cook Everything. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.