Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients

• 320 g shortcrust pastry
• 250 g smoked bacon lardons
• 3 shallots, finely sliced
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 300 ml double cream
• 100 ml whole milk
• 100 g gruyere, grated
• a grating of nutmeg

Method

1. Line and chill

   Line a deep 23 cm tin, leaving the pastry overhanging the rim, and chill for 30 minutes. Chilling is what stops the sides slumping down the tin in the oven.

   30 min

2. Blind bake thoroughly

   Bake lined with paper and beans at 190°C for 20 minutes, then 10 more with the paper removed until the base is sandy and dry. A pale base under a wet custard will never crisp, and this is the step that decides whether the quiche is good.

   30 min

3. Cook the filling

   Fry the lardons until crisp, then the shallots in the fat until soft. Drain them well — bacon fat pooling in the custard makes it greasy and stops it setting evenly.

4. Make the custard

   Beat the eggs, yolks, cream, milk and nutmeg and season. The extra yolks are what give it a silky set rather than a rubbery one; all whole eggs makes it firm and slightly bouncy.

5. Fill in the oven

   Scatter the bacon, shallots and cheese into the case, pull the oven shelf out, and pour the custard in there. Carrying a full quiche across the kitchen is how it ends up on the floor.

6. Bake low and rest

   Bake at 160°C until just set with a slight wobble at the centre, about 35 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes, then trim the overhanging pastry level with a serrated knife for a clean edge.

   35 min