Random Story: Back in the day, when I lived in Seattle, Ben had a colleague from Iran (via Canada). When he found out that I was German, the very first thing that he said was “Oh, she must make great quiche!” This confused the heck out of me at the time because apparently Germans are great quiche bakers and I didn’t even know it. Turns out that I have no idea where he got this perception, but nevertheless to this day, I think of him whenever I make a quiche.
As a note on this recipe, the quiche pictured is actually baked in a 7-inch brie baker, not a 9 inch pie plate, so I reduced the ingredients. Being a singleton, I didn’t want to be eating quiche for three days! The recipe, however, it for a full sized quiche that will feed 4-6 people.
Ingredients
for the pastry
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, diced
6 tablespoons (or more) ice water
for the filling
4 large eggs
1/4 cup diced speck or panchetta (you can also use breakfast bacon)
3 spring onions (not scallions), whites and greens, diced
5-6 asparagus stalks, chopped to 1 inch pieces
Freshly ground black pepper
coarse salt, such as kosher or sea salt
6 ounces gruyere, grated (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup crème fraîche
3/4 cup heavy cream
Directions
First make your crust. Blend flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter and shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours. Roll out chilled dough disk between two sheets of plastic wrap, until 1/8-inch thick and 2-inch wider than tart pan. Invert dough into tart pan; press onto bottom and up sides. If dough is soft, chill until firm enough for remaining sheet of plastic to be removed. Trim edges of dough (patch up any holes or tears with extra dough). Chill until firm, about another hour.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line dough with parchment paper or heavy-duty foil, leaving a 1-inch-2-inch overhang. Fill paper with dried beans or pie weights. Bake tart shell just until dough has dried and does not look wet in any spots, about 20 minutes. (If center still looks wet, bake crust without weights until dried and opaque, a few minutes longer.) Let cool while you make the filling. Lower the oven temperature to 325F.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Render the speck in a skillet over medium heat. If using breakfast bacon, you may have to drain off some of the excess fat. Add the white parts of the spring onions and continue to sauté until they are translucent. Add the chopped asparagus, reserving a few of the tips to sprinkle on the top of the quiche. The asparagus should be tender, but not mushy.
Scatter the half the grated gruyere over the cooled crust, followed by the speck and asparagus mixture. Whisk crème fraîche, cream, and eggs in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the speck and asparagus mixture, then sprinkle on the remaining cheese, the reserved asparagus tips and green parts of the spring onions. Bake until custard is set and golden brown in spots, 35–40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature.
