Updated

One of the best “kitchen-sink” recipes, don’t let the fancy name fool you into thinking this is a complicated dish to make. Essentially a custard pie, as long as you remember the ratios of custard, you can add anything to spice up this simple dish. Makes one pie.

Cook Time:30 min

Prep Time:30 min

Total Time:1 hours

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

Puff pastry dough

6 ounce lardon, cubed

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

3 Eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1 Pinch nutmeg

1 cup finely grated gruyère cheese

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Roll out the dough and use it to line a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate. Dock the dough and freeze it for 20 minutes.

Line the crust with parchment, fill it with pie weights or dried beans, and bake it for 15 minutes.

Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake the crust for 5 minutes more, or just until the raw-dough sheen is gone. Set it aside.

In a heavy skillet, sauté the lardon cubes until they are crispy and the fat is rendered. Transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the cheese and the lardon, and pour the filling into the crust.

Bake the quiche for 30 minutes, or until the filling begins to puff and turns golden brown.

Add some smoked salmon, sautéed red pepper, and onion, a spoonful of minced fresh dill, and some salt and pepper. Stir in your favorite cheese—a goat cheese would be lovely with that salmon—and you have a great brunch dish.

Add salsa, Manchego or Jack cheese, jalapeño, chorizo, and finish off with a slice of avocado, and you’ve got a Mexican quiche. How about a Mexican quiche? Got some salsa? A bit of Manchego or Jack cheese? Jalapeño and chorizo? Take it up a notch by making this quiche with a cornmeal crust.

Make a Vermont quiche by adding turkey, cheddar, and dried cranberries.