Quiche Lorraine
Shortcrust pastry base with bacon and a creamy egg and cream filling, completely without cheese in the original.
- Preparation
- 30 min
- Cook/bake time
- 55 min
- Total
- 2 hr 25 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 698 kcal
- Servings
- 6
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cooking & baking
- 55 min
- Resting
- 1 hr
Only 1 hr 25 min of that is hands-on – the rest takes care of itself.
Shortcrust pastry base with bacon and a creamy egg and cream filling, completely without cheese in the original. The base is blind baked first, because this is the only way it stays crispy instead of doughy under the moist filling. The classic quiche from Lorraine makes do with four ingredients and therefore needs good ones.
Why this works
An unbaked shortcrust pastry base absorbs the liquid egg mixture before its starch can gelatinize, and the result is a moist, doughy layer that will not get crispy even after 40 minutes of baking time. During blind baking, the starch gelatinizes and dries first, forming a closed surface that hardly absorbs any liquid. Working without cheese is not purism here, but gives the egg and cream mixture the space to actually set creaminess.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Knead the dough
Quickly knead the flour, salt and cold butter cubes with your fingertips to a crumbly mass. Add the egg and, if necessary, a little ice-cold water, and quickly form the dough into a flat disk without kneading for a long time. Warm hands and long working make shortcrust pastry tough instead of crumbly, so speed counts here.
- 2
Chill
Wrap the dough in foil and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The butter becomes firm again and the gluten network relaxes so that the dough does not shrink during baking. This waiting time cannot be shortened.
- 3
Blind bake
Roll out the dough and line a 28 cm tart pan with it, pulling up an edge. Prick the base several times with a fork, place baking paper on top and fill it with legumes. Bake it at 190 °C for 15 minutes, remove the weights and bake it for another 8 minutes until the base is dry and light golden.
- 4
Render the bacon
Fry the bacon cubes in a pan without additional fat over medium heat until they are golden brown and crispy. Let them drain on paper towels so that not too much fat gets into the quiche and the filling sets cleanly later.
- 5
Fill and bake
Whisk the eggs, egg yolk, cream and milk and season generously with nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Distribute the bacon on the pre-baked base and pour the egg mixture over it. Bake the quiche at 170 °C for 35 to 40 minutes until the center just slightly jiggles. Let it rest for twenty minutes.
Our best tips
- Blind baking is not optional. Without this step, you are guaranteed to get a soft, moist base.
- Take the quiche out of the oven while the center is still slightly jiggling. It continues to cook while resting and will otherwise become rubbery.
- In the original without cheese. If you want cheese, you make a Quiche Vosgienne with it, which is also good, but a different dish.
Tasty variations
Quiche aux poireaux
Instead of bacon, use 500 g of steamed leek rings, which results in the vegetarian version.
With Gruyère
Sprinkle 100 g of grated Gruyère over the bacon, then the quiche becomes heartier and more filling.
What is left over?
This recipe only uses the yolks. The whites keep for three days in the fridge and freeze well – nobody has to throw them out.
Nutrition facts
| Calories | 698 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 33 g |
| – of which sugar | 3 g |
| Fat | 55 g |
| Fiber | 1 g |
Where the 698 kcal come from
per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it
We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:
- Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
- Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
- Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
- Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my base getting soggy?
Either it was not blind baked or the filling was too liquid. In addition, it helps to seal the pre-baked base with a little beaten egg white.
Can I use ready-made dough?
Yes, chilled shortcrust pastry from the supermarket works well. You still have to blind bake it.
Serve warm or cold?
Lukewarm is ideal. Hot, the filling is still unstable, cold it loses flavor. Twenty minutes of rest is the optimum.
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