I want you to trust me when I tell you that this is the absolutely easiest pie crust in the world to make. I would say it is "foolproof", but I don't like that term. Just trust me. It works, 100% of the time. This is not my recipe. It is the recipe of America's Test Kitchen. I have just slightly altered it (I reduced the sugar from 1 T. to 1 t.). The quiche recipe is my own, well, as "my own" as it can be, as I know I've read dozens of recipes.
Ok, pastry.....the thought puts fear in most. It's crumbly, if not, it's hard. It's difficult to work with...right? There are chefs that won't touch the stuff--literally. There hands are too hot. No, I'm not joking. If you have hot hands, it's difficult to make pastry. But let's face it, we're not striving to be pastry chefs. I'm not going to be making my own phyllo dough (tried it once--a disaster), or my own puff pastry (well, I can't say, "never".) This is pie dough! You can do it. There is a trick to this dough that makes it super easy to work with. Sometimes, when you make a pie dough recipe, it is too crumbly to work with. It falls apart as you put it in the pan, it cracks...it's a pain! But not this dough. It is extra moist so that it is easy to work with. Now, had we accomplished this with just the traditional ingredients of water, vinegar, or egg, our crust would turn out tough. This crust has vodka in it. That's right, vodka. The additional liquid makes the dough workable, but, as it cooks, the alcohol evaporates, and voila! A beautiful, flaky pie crust. Every time.
This is one of those recipes that you can adapt. The important part of this recipe is the custard. Stick with tha ratio of eggs, milk, cream, salt, pepper, and mustard. You can add any variety of things, just keep the volume to about 1-1 1/2 cups. Think about things like leeks, roasted broccoli, sauteed zucchini....You can also use 3 oz. of other cheese besides chevre. Guyere is great. Just line the bottom of the prebaked crust with it and your filling, and add the custard. Proceed as the recipe suggests with baking.
Now here's the thing about quiche. It is hard to tell when it is done. You don't want to overbake it, but you definately don't want to overbake it. So to tell if your quiche is done, shake it gently. The center should be set, but it will giggle a bit. Then, when you take it out of the oven, it will continue to set. You can also press on it to see that it is slightly firm.
This quiche will serve 6-8 people.
Pie Crust
1 ¼ c. all purpose flour
½ t. table salt
1 t. sugar
6 T. butter, chilled and cut into ¼ inch pieces
4 T. shortening, frozen and broken into 4 pieces
2 T. water
2 T. vodka
ice
Directions
Place ¾ cups of the flour in the work bowl of your food processor. Add the salt and sugar. Pulse 3 times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Mix for 10 seconds until the mixture looks like sand. Add the rest of the flour and pulse 6 times for 1 seconds each. Add the vodka and water to a cup with ice. Add the vodka and ice mixture to the flour. Pulse the mixture 4 times for 1 second each. Put the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press it out into a flat disk and wrap up in the leftover wrap. Place in the refrigerator for ½ hour or up to 2 days (can also be frozen, just wrap it well).
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and unwrap it. Lift up the dough and sprinkle the plastic wrap with a little flour. Put the dough on the flour, and sprinkle top with a bit more flour. Roll out to about a 12 inch round, working only in one direction (spin the dough, don’t roll back and forth—it builds gluten). Lift the whole thing, plastic and all and gently flip into a 9 inch pie pan (preferably glass). Work the edges up under itself onto the lip of the pie plate. Build up the sides about ½ inch above the lip of the pan.
Place the pan in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
Mushroom, Spinach and Chevre Quiche
2 shallots, sliced thinly
1 T. butter
6 oz. mushrooms, sliced
¼ c. frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 large eggs
¾ c. whole milk
¾ c. cream
½ t. table salt
½ t. white pepper, freshly ground
½ t. dried mustard
1 t. fresh thyme, chopped
3 oz. chevre, broken into small pieces
2 oz. swiss cheese, grated
Directions
While the oven preheats, sauté the shallots in butter for 2 minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste, spinach, nutmeg and thyme.
In a separate bowl, make the custard with the eggs, salt, white pepper, dried mustard, milk, and cream. Beat until smooth. Add the goat cheese (chevre).
You will be “blind baking” the crust before adding the custard. To do this, you’ll need 2 things…. Aluminum foil and 1 lb. dried beans (which you will be sacrificing for a cause because you won’t ever be able to eat them, but you can keep them in a jar and use them for this purpose over and over.) To bake your crust, line the pie crust with aluminum foil. Pour in the pie weights (beans). Put the pie pan on a cookie sheet and put it in the hot oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and carefully lift out the beans by lifting up the aluminum foil. Return the crust to the oven and bake until lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Remove the shell from the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle the little bit of swiss cheese on the bottom of the crust. Top with vegetable mix and spread out. Top with the custard and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the custard is lightly set. It will firm up as it cools. Serve at room temperature for best texture. May be served hot.
Enjoy!
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