All Allium Deep Dish Quiche

This project has been extremely fun so far, but to be honest, I'm a little tired of putting the burden on myself to eat so many sweet things. I'm still considering how exactly I want to approach making all these recipes - should I try to get as many of them out of the way as possible while I can, or should I slow down the pace to, say, two recipes a week? I've decided to sacrifice my "real" meals for this project because I'm afraid of overeating on top of it, so my diet right now pretty much consists of 100% dessert. Sure, I say often that I'm an adult and I can do what I want, but it's getting to be a lot, and I'm scared it's not helping improve my eating habits. 

I was very excited to make this next recipe for two reasons. Firstly, it's the first savory recipe I'd be making for this project. In Dessert Person, Claire has an entire chapter dedicated to savory baked things, and I'd been really looking forward to exploring that chapter and getting a refreshing little break from dessert. Secondly, this is just one of those recipes that popped out at me, even when I was first flipping through Dessert Person. I love quiche, and this version is a decidedly maximalist take with, hence the name, pretty much every alliums imaginable - onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, and scallions, to be exact. There's also the addition of pancetta (or bacon), and I know this is a really cliché opinion, but I cannot say no to a cured pork product. It's baked in a springform pan rather than a pie pan, which gives it a nice tall, straight shape. There's also the addition of charred onion that gets separated into layers and arranged on top to form decorative "petals", which make the quiche look really beautiful and special. I knew this would be a recipe I would not only enjoy eating, but I would be proud of making as well.

If you're familiar with Claire's books, you'll know that she rates all of her recipes from 1 (very easy) to 5 (very challenging). This recipe is rated 4, or challenging, which makes it, in theory, the most difficult recipe I've made for this project so far. Claire attributes this rating to the high chance of the quiche leaking as it bakes, and therefore the extra vigilance it requires to prevent that from happening. Nonetheless, I felt confident. Quiche is a pie-adjacent dish, possibly considered in some definitions to be a type of pie, and pie definitely has a special place in my heart in the world of baking - both to make and to eat. 

I've made pie dough tons of times by now for various things, but I've always sort of made my own adjustments to the formula. Claire's pie dough recipe in Dessert Person has served as one of the main inspirations for how I make it, but I deviate a little. To be honest, the way I usually make pie dough is probably closer to rough puff pastry - I slice all of my butter into thin sheets, and then flatten it out with my fingers to make them thinner, and that's it. However, I decided to be a fair judge and make the recipe exactly as Claire has it written, where half the butter is broken up into pea-size pieces. This is probably the "correct" way to make pie dough because it results in a sturdier crust, and to be honest, it was still pretty flaky.

This is definitely a "project" recipe. There are multiple steps, and it's not something that can just be whipped up in an hour or two, but it's definitely doable; you just have to commit yourself to it. Because quiche has a wet filling, you need to parbake the crust first (no soggy bottoms here). You bake the crust weighted down with beans, rice, pie weights, etc. the first time at 425, then remove the weights and bake again at a reduced temperature of 325. I was a bit worried after the crust had parbaked because it looked a little browner than I imagined. Maybe the oven hadn't reduced in temperature fully when I put it in the second time. However, it was still fine to eat, and I noticed that it didn't really brown any further beyond that. Claire recommends patching any holes or creases in the dough with a flour and water mixture, but I didn't really notice any, and I was afraid to put it in the oven any longer, so I skipped that step. I'll probably take the extra precaution next time. Also, for some reason, I can never roll my dough into a perfect circle. I noticed in the pie dough recipe in What's for Dessert that Claire mentions dough will want to roll out into the shape you make when you chill it, so if you're making a round pie, you'll want your dough to be circular when you stick it in the fridge. I'll definitely try doing that next time, because it's annoying.

For the filling itself, you render the pancetta in some butter, then sauté all of the chopped alliums in that fat mixture until softened and slightly browned. I used bacon for this recipe; I had pancetta, but I didn't have enough, and I wanted to save it for whenever I get to eat pasta again (lol). Keep in mind that you have to chop five different oniony ingredients for this recipe, so if you have particularly sensitive eyes, it might not be for you. Mine were stinging quite a bit, but it was worth it. I always mean to chop my onions and shallots the "chefy" way (it's hard for me to explain, just look up "how to chop an onion/shallot" on Google), but I always get in the habit of chopping of the root end before I remember to do it like that. I remembered this time, and it's a much better method than what I usually do, despite it seeming a little complicated.

The onion petals are optional in the recipe, but I highly recommend making them because they add a really lovely visual element as well as sweet, tender pieces of onion for eating. In the grand scheme of this recipe, it's not much additional work. I was a bit nervous because making them requires charring onions in a very hot pan, and I have a very sensitive smoke alarm. There definitely was smoke, but it wasn't a major scare. The custard itself is pretty standard for a quiche recipe - just a few eggs whisked together with some half-and-half. You could use a blender, but I kind of thought that was a little extra. The filling gets poured in the crust on top of the sautéed alliums and pancetta and then topped with the onion petals, which scoop up some of the custard in a really lovely way. I noticed that the bottom of the quiche started leaking a little even before I put it in the oven, but that didn't affect the overall look or taste whatsoever, and other people probably wouldn't have noticed. The leakage was minimal anyways, but next time I might take that extra step and be a bit more cautious. I also may have undercooked the custard slightly - it was a little loose when I first cut into the quiche - but it set more eventually as it cooled. I was a little annoyed that the sides of the crust were a little higher than the filling. I'm pretty sure I rolled my dough to the right thickness, so that's just something to keep in mind for next time.

I have to say that this quiche was extremely delicious and just what I wanted to eat on Friday. The crust was well baked, and the filling was really luscious and custardy. Most of the quiches I've had in my life have had more of an eggy, omelet-y texture, and while I don't hate that, it was really nice to have a quiche that was very much a savory custard tart like it's supposed to be. The quiche is jam-packed full of little bits of allium and bacon which add a really lovely depth of flavor. There's salty, savory, and a little bit of sweet in each bite. I'm still debating whether adding every ingredient in that family is slightly overkill, and if it would be better to have, say, just onions or shallots or leeks and really let that particular flavor shine, but it was delicious nonetheless. As I mentioned, the onion petals, in my opinion, are very necessary for this dish. They add a visual, textural, and flavor element, and they're really fun to pick off the top and eat. There's one unusual thing about this quiche that I haven't mentioned yet, which is the lack of cheese. Pretty much all of the quiches I've had before have contained cheese, but it's not necessarily required for a quiche. In fact, a traditional quiche Lorraine doesn't contain any cheese. I'm a little conflicted on this - there's already a lot going on in this recipe, so I don't think cheese is missed in it by any means. That being said, would the addition of it make this quiche even better? Perhaps. 

Overall, this quiche was a very delicious recipe and definitely had the wow factor I was looking for in this project. It's somewhat of an involved process, so it's probably best suited to special occasions, but I think the results are more than worth the effort. Of course, it makes for a really nice breakfast, but I also think it could be a lovely lunch or even dinner served with some simple greens on the side. 

verdict: 9/10

will I make again? definitely!