Cheese And Leek Quiche | Greedy Gourmet

Question 1

What is quiche?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

What's the difference between traditional quiche and quiche lorraine?

Accepted Answer

A traditional quiche is egg-based and can contain any vegetables mixed with cheese. However, while a proper French quiche Lorraine is also egg and cheese-based, it should have French cheese, heavy cream, and bacon.

Question 3

Why isn't my quiche creamy?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

How do you know when a quiche is cooked?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 5

How do you prevent quiche from going rubbery?

Accepted Answer

A rubbery quiche is the result of using too many eggs. A good ratio for quiche is about two eggs to every 250ml of cream. This recipe calls for four eggs and 500ml cream, ensuring the quiche sets without taking on a rubbery texture.

Question 6

How do you stop a quiche from going soggy on the bottom?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 7

How do you thicken a quiche filling?

Accepted Answer

The eggs do the work when it comes to thickening a quiche mixture. All you have to do is make sure you follow the measurements below. You're golden as long as you've got the correct ratio between the eggs and the cream!

Question 8

Do you need to use baking beans when making a quiche?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You'll need to 'blind bake' the pastry before adding the filling. This prevents the bottom from going soggy. The baking beans (you can also use rice) weigh down the pastry to prevent it from rising while drawing heat to the pie.

Question 9

How do you prepare leeks?

Accepted Answer

Slice them lengthways, wash them inside, and then thinly slice horizontally.

Question 10

Should vegetables be cooked before adding them to the quiche?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the vegetables. The leeks must be sauteéd for this recipe before adding them to the quiche.

Question 11

Can this quiche be made ahead of time?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 12

How do you store quiche leftovers?

Accepted Answer

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. They will stay fresh for 2-3 days, but I'm willing to bet they won't last that long!

Question 13

Can you freeze this cheese and leek quiche?

Accepted Answer

If you want to keep the quiche longer, it's possible to freeze it for up to six months. For step-by-step instructions, please look at my guide to freezing quiche.

Question 14

How do you reheat quiche?

Accepted Answer

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.

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