café de flore’s quiche lorraine

By á-58

Café de Flore is one of my favorite cafés in Paris and the quiche is one of my favorite dishes on the menu. Sunday brunch is always the best time to go there. This is my variation of their famous quiche.

Ingredients

• For the pastry
• scant 11⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, plus
• extra for dusting
• pinch of salt
• 3 ⁄4 stick chilled butter, diced,
• plus extra for greasing
• 1 egg
• For the filling
• 11 ⁄3 cups grated Cheddar cheese
• scant 1 cup diced smoked
• thick-cut bacon
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1 ⁄3 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
• 3 ⁄4 cup + 2 tablespoons half and half
• sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper
• 4 tomatoes, sliced (optional)
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 120mins

Preparation

Step 1

To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until you have a soft bread crumb texture. Add the whisked egg to bring the crumb mixture together to form a firm dough (if needed you can add a little cold water too). Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured counter and line a well-buttered 81 ⁄2 in tart dish. Don’t cut off the edges of the pastry yet. Chill again.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator, line the base with parchment paper and then fill with pie weights. Place on a baking sheet and bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment, and return the pie shell to the oven for a further 5 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 325°F.
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the pie shell. Fry the bacon pieces until they are crisp then sprinkle them over the top of the cheese. Combine the eggs with the milk and half and half in a bowl, and season well. Pour the mixture over the bacon and cheese. Add the sliced tomatoes (if using), sprinkle the thyme over the top, and trim the edges of the pastry.

Bake for 30–40 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and let cool and set further. Serve in wedges.