FRENCH
GARLIC CONFIT QUICHE LORRAINE
Garlic Confit has quickly become something of a secret weapon of ours. Tossed through pasta, blended into dressings, whizzed into hummus – perfuming gentle garlicky notes without the aggressive heat or aftertaste of its raw counterpart. It’s dynamite. And in this quiche, we may have found its best use yet.
A separate note, however, is the cheese. Traditionally, Quiche Lorraine doesn’t contain cheese – just eggs, cream and lardons inside a shortcrust case. Quite the pain-point for many a Lorraine purist.
I know. I understand.
I do, however, feel it rather benefits from the addition of the dastardly gruyere – as most things do – so I’ve decided to add it. I’ve also made carbonara with cream on occasion so call me a heathen!
And to add further insult to injury, I’ve added a few sliced cloves of garlic confit to the party – the mellower, almost sweet garlic confit brings a wonderfully savoury, garlicky moreishness to the quiche that elevates this dish to an indulgent experience worthy of rivalling the very best quiches you’ve had, cheese or no.
So why not join us in thumbing our noses at tradition – it’s delicious on this side of the fence, we promise!
Ingredients
PASTRY
250g Plain Flour,
125g Cold Unsalted Butter, cubed
1–3 tbsp Cold Water,
Pinch of Salt
FILLING
3 Medium Eggs,
1 Egg Yolk,
200g Smoked Lardons,
400ml Double Cream,
5 Confit Garlic Cloves, sliced into 5mm slices
100g Gruyere, grated
Pinch of Salt & Pepper
TO SERVE
Salad
METHOD
PREPARING THE PASTRY
TIP – Making shortcrust pastry in a food processor limits the amount of time your hands are in contact with the pastry, meaning the butter stays as cold as possible for longer, yielding flakier, more buttery pastry. You can absolutely make the pastry with your hands, just try not to over-handle as this will result in tougher pastry.
- To make the pastry, add the flour and cold cubed butter into a food processor and pulse until you have a mixture which resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add one to three tablespoons at a time of very cold water and pulse again, until the pastry looks as though it’s just starting to clump together. Usually, it will take about two tablespoons.
- Wrap the dough and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
COOKING THE LARDONS
- Whilst the pastry is resting in the fridge, prepare the lardons. Place a large pan over a medium heat and add the lardons into the dry pan. Gradually increase the heat to the pan as the fat renders out of the lardons until the pan has reached a medium-high heat and the lardons are sizzling and starting to slightly crisp. About 5 minutes.
- Remove the lardons from the pan and transfer to a plate to cool.
PREPARING THE CASE
- Take the pastry out of the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 3mm.
- Lightly butter a 25cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Then, carefully lay the pastry over the tart tin, gently pressing the pastry into the edges of the tray. Trim off any excess pastry and prick the base of the pastry with a fork.
- Cover the pastry and return to the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200Cº.
- Remove the pastry from the fridge line with a sheet of baking parchment, followed by baking beans. Blind-Bake the pastry in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven, baking for a further 10 minutes until lightly golden.
THE QUICHE
- Preheat the oven to 160Cº (fan oven).
- In a large mixing bowl, add the three eggs, egg yolk, double cream and a pinch of salt. Whisk together until entirely mixed and evenly combined. Add the cheese into the mixture and whisk together.
- Pour the mixture into the pastry, ensuring there aren’t any large clumps of cheese in one place. Evenly scatter over the lardons and sliced garlic confit and season with a pinch of pepper.
- Transfer the quiche to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and just set. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for an hour before slicing – serving with a salad, this part should be mandatory!
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