Quiche Lorraine

I used to make Quiche Lorraine the lazy way, using frozen filo pastry instead of freshly made short pastry. But of course a quiche is supposed to be made with short pastry, so I decided to overcome my baking phobia and give it a try. And (surprise, surprise!) it was actually pretty easy. Above all, it was DELICIOUS! I admit that it's not exactly a quick dinner to make (he pastry does take some time) but it's definitely worth it. 

Ingredients (serves 4): 

375gr flour

2 eggs

150gr butter, cut into pieces

salt

200gr bacon, cut into cubes

2 medium-sized onions, halved and finely sliced

200gr sour cream

200ml cream

5 eggs

100gr grated cheese (I used Parmesan and Gruyere)

500gr dried pulses

Baking paper

Preparation:

1. First you have to make the dough. Simply pile the flour on a large working surface, make a hole in the middle and fill that with the eggs and the butter (which shouldn't be straight out of the fridge but not soft either - somewhere in the middle is perfect). Add a bit of salt and, using your hands, combine the ingredients to form a dough. At first it might seem as though there isn't enough butter, but trust me it will come together. Now this is very important: once you have a proper dough immediately stop kneading. Simply wrap the dough in a piece of clingfilm and place in the fridge for an hour.

2. In the meantime, place the bacon in a pan and allow to sizzle away until it starts to brown. Add the onion and continue frying gently until the onions are soft. Set aside.


3. In a bowl, combine the sour cream, the cream, eggs, grated cheese and some salt and pepper. Mix well. 


4. Take the dough out of the fridge. Cover your working surface with a generous amount of flour and roll out the dough (should be pretty thin). Transfer the rolled out dough to a well greased quiche form (the easiest way to do this, is to wrap the dough around your rolling pin). Line the form evenly and cut off any excess around the edges. 

5. Take a piece of baking paper, cover the dough and add the pulses. Place the
form in your pre-heated oven (160°C fan-assisted, otherwise 180°C) and cook for 15 mins. Remove the pulses and baking paper and bake for another 5 mins, this time placing the form directly on the bottom of the oven. Remove and allow to cool off slightly. 


6. Spread the onion-bacon mixture evenly and pour the cream. Place in the oven and cook for 25 mins. Towards the end of the cooking time you might want to turn on the grill to ensure that the Quiche takes on a nice golden color. Once the Quiche is done, let it sit for about 10mins before serving.