Quiche Lorraine is a French tart filled with eggs, cream and ham or bacon. It’s buttery and decadent, and is normally eaten on its own or with a side of salad as a meal. It’s super easy to make and will sure impress any eater when you whip this up for Sunday breakfast.

There are 2 main components to this dish: The pastry and egg component.

1. The pastry: it’s a buttery short-crust pastry. Super easy to make but you can also opt for store-bought pastry if it’s easier for you.
2. Egg mixture: the base is essentially eggs, cream and cheese, then you can add any toppings you might like. Traditionally it’s ham or bacon and onion or leeks. You can definitely omit the ham if you cannot eat pork.

Ingredients

Pastry:
200g plain flour
100g butter, cubed (keep cold)
2-5 tbsp water
1tsp salt

Egg Mixture:
4 eggs
1 cup cream
1 leek, chopped (white part only)
4-5 rashers of bacon, diced
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
parsley, for garnish

Method

1. Dough: in a bowl, rub together your flour, butter and salt until mixture resembles wet sand. Then slowly add in the water, one tablespoon at a time, work it into mixture until a dough ball just forms. Don’t over-knead the dough, it’s not supposed to be smooth and perfect, you want to see specks of butter and flour. Cover with cling wrap and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
3. Once chilled, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper until it’s 3mm (1/8 inch) thin. Remove one sheet of parchment paper, press the dough into a tart tin and remove the 2nd sheet of parchment paper. Place the same sheet of parchment loosely on top of the dough and fill it with dough weights or uncooked rice and par bake for 10 minutes. Set aside
4. While the tart shell is par baking, prepare the bacon and leeks. In a bacon over medium heat, add in the bacon to tender the fat and make it crispy. Remove the crispy bacon and set aside.
5. In the same pot, add in the leeks and sweat it out until it’s soft and translucent. Remove and set aside.
6. Egg Mixture: in a bowl, combine the eggs, cream, Gruyere cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.
7. Assemble: Remove the dough weights and parchment paper from the tart shell. Add a layer of leeks and bacon into the tart shell and then pour the egg mixture over it, make sure to not over-pour as the egg will puff up in the oven. Top with parmesan cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the surface is golden brown.
8. Let the quiche cool and garnish with parsley.