Onion Quiche

This is a delicate and tasty quiche, which is perfect for brunch, for a dairy dinner, a party, or any light meal. The dough (the same dough that I use for all quiches) has sugar in it; this helps the dough get the lovely golden color when baked – and lends it a delicious flavor.

The dough needs to be pre-baked in the baking tin that you are going to use for the quiche; please do not skip this step; it is important, since it keeps the dough from getting soggy when baked afterwards with the onion-cream-egg filling.

ENJOY!

Ingredients (for 24 cm or 10 inch cake pan):

Dough

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted vegetable shortening
• 2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose white flour
• a pinch of baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Filling

• approximately 80 grams (3 oz) yellow cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 large onions halved and VERY THINLY sliced
• 100 grams (almost 1/4 lb.) butter
• salt
• pepper
• paprika

Preparation:

Dough

1. Cut butter and vegetable shortening into little cubes, put it into the food processor together with the sugar, salt, flour, and baking powder. Pulse a few times until it is crumbly.
2. Add the lemon juice and then add the milk GRADUALLY, one spoonful at a time, with the machine working. As soon as the dough forms a ball, that means that you have added enough milk.
3. Take out the dough, put it in plastic wrap or in a bowl, and put it to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
   • TIP: I often take a shortcut here: instead of refrigerating it as a “ball”, I immediately pat it into the bottom and partially up the sides of the cake pan, and then put it to rest in the refrigerator; that saves me the work of shaping the dough later on.
4. After the dough has rested and chilled, turn the oven on, at 190 C or 360 F, and bake, watching carefully, till it is a light golden color.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Filling

1. (You can do this step even a day before, and keep it in the refrigerator; it is actually better that way, since the filling should not be hot when you put it into the baked dough:) Slice the onions in half, and then slice each half as thinly as you can. melt the butter, and then add the onion, salt, pepper, and paprika, and on a low flame, cook until they get soft but NOT brown. The longer you cook, the better, so that the natural sweetness of the onions comes out; please be sure that the flame is very low, so as not to burn the onions; they should be very soft – but not brown – the cooking can take up to an hour. Taste and adjust seasonings. If doing in advance, place in covered container and store in refrigerator till you bake the quiche.
2. Allow to cool.
3. In the baked crust crumble the yellow cheese, spreading evenly around.
4. On that, spread the cooled sauteed onions.
5. In a small mixing bowl with a whisk or electric beater, put the eggs, the egg yolk, the whipping cream, more salt, pepper and paprika.
6. Whisk until all ingredients are incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings.
7. Pour the mixture evenly over the sauteed onions which have already been placed on the dough.
8. Place in a pre-heated 190 C (375 F) oven and bake till the filling is “set” and firm, and a deep golden brown – this can take up to about 45 minutes.
9. Allow to cool, and serve. Better to wait an hour or so before serving, so that it will be easier to cut into wedges. If it is too fresh, it will be difficult to cut neatly.

TIP: Make sure that the baking tin is big enough so that the mixture doesn’t overflow – that would ruin not only the presentation of the quiche, but also the flavor, since any mixture that overflows onto the oven will burn, and smoke up the oven. I usually place a large piece of aluminum foil underneath the baking tin, to catch any drops of mixture – just in case.