Roasted Pepper, Bacon and Gouda Quiche
Story by Maria Dasilva
A quiche used to seem to me the epitome of culinary elegance. The creamy egg filling, the flaky golden pastry and the fancy fillings all seemed to ooze luxury and fancy French cooking – perhaps because we only ate it at home when we had special guests over or went to fancy restaurants for brunch.
Now that I have learned how to cook for myself I still think quiche is a fine symbol of the simplicity and refinement of French cooking. It is certainly a crowd pleaser for brunch or a casual dinner. And it’s so versatile: change the cheese, change the vegetables, keep the meat out if you choose, a kind of anything-goes dish as long as the egg-to milk-proportions remain the same.
Ingredients
Serves 6 to 8. Makes one 9-inch deep round quiche.
Filling
6 slices bacon
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and diced
8 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded aged Gouda cheese
Pastry
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vinegar
Directions for Pastry
In bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until it resembles coarse meal with pea-sized pieces of butter. In small measuring glass, mix egg yolk with vinegar, add enough ice-cold water to measure ⅓ cup total. Drizzle over flour mixture, tossing with fork and adding up to 2 tsp more water until a rough dough forms. Knead dough in bowl until it just comes together. Shape into a ball. Flatten dough into disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
On floured surface, roll dough into 13-inch circle. Fit into deep 9-inch pie plate and crimp edges. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick dough all over with fork. Line with parchment paper or foil paper; fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake on bottom third of 400ºF oven until pastry is light golden, 15 to 18 minutes.
Directions for Filling
Meanwhile, in skillet over medium heat, cook bacon, turning once, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate; let cool then chop. Drain all but 1 tbsp fat from skillet.
In same skillet over medium heat, cook onion (add salt and pepper) until tender and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in red peppers and bacon; set aside.
In bowl, beat eggs with milk until combined. Stir in bacon, pepper and onion mixture and 3/4 cup of the cheese. Pour filling into pastry and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in bottom third of 375ºF oven, covering pastry edge with pieces of foil if getting too brown, until filling is set, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
