Onion Quiche
- Total Time
- 2½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 2cups/250 grams all-purpose flour, more as needed
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼teaspoon sugar
- 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), cold, cut in ½-inch cubes
- Scant ½ cup ice water, or as needed
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2½pounds onions (about 6 to 8 large), finely chopped
- 1½tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2ounces lardons, diced pancetta or bacon (about ½ cup)
- 2large eggs
- ⅔cup heavy cream
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2ounces Gruyère, shredded (about ½ cup)
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
586 calories; 44 grams fat; 25 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 39 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 606 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Make the tart dough: In a food processor, pulse flour, salt and sugar to combine. Add butter, then pulse until lima-bean-size pieces form. Gradually drizzle water into mixture and pulse just to combine, adding more water by the tablespoon if dough doesn’t come together. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Press it together into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. (If you don’t have a food processor, see Tip below.)
- Step 2
While dough chills, cook the onions for the filling: In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter and oil. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden and liquid has been cooked off, about 1 hour. (If the onions start to get too dark, reduce the heat to low.) Stir in flour and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Step 3
Butter a 9-inch tart pan. Take chilled dough out of plastic wrap and place on a floured surface. Roll dough into an 11-inch circle, drape over it over tart pan and press into bottom edges and down sides. Use a knife or rolling pin to cut off excess dough, then use your fingers to push dough ¼-inch up past the edge of pan. Use a fork to poke evenly spaced holes in the bottom and sides of the dough and chill for 30 minutes.
- Step 4
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chilled tart on a baking sheet. Line with foil, fill with pie weights and bake for 15 minutes. Remove tart from oven and carefully remove foil and pie weights. Return tart to oven to continue baking, uncovered, until dough is just baked through and barely turning golden on the edges, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
- Step 5
Prepare lardons: Heat a medium, dry skillet over medium heat, then add lardons and cook until they start to brown, about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Step 6
In a large bowl, whisk to combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fold in onions, then half the Gruyère. Cube remaining 1 tablespoon butter into pea-size pieces.
- Step 7
Scatter cooked lardons over parbaked tart shell. Scrape egg and onion mixture into shell, smoothing top, and then scatter remaining Gruyère on top. Dot with butter pieces, then bake in a 375-degree oven until puffed and browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove tart ring from pan and slide quiche onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tip
- To prepare the dough without a food processor, use a pastry cutter or a knife and fork to cut butter into flour mixture. Stir in water until dough just comes together into a ball. Cut dough into 4 pieces, and use the heel of your hand to smear one piece away from you on the work surface so it spreads about 6 inches. Gather that piece, place it to the side and repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Press to combine all the smeared pieces into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Hope Alexander
this is a wonderful recipe. Thanks Melissa Clark for all the recipes. I just heard you on Radio Cherry Bomb!
I put the onions in the crock pot over night instead of on the stove top. They were amazing. I just learned that secret.
Seth
This is a delicious quiche, but it is incredibly rich. The dough has a LOT of butter, and the heavy cream too is decadent. I would take issue with some of the measurements. There is way more dough than you need for a nine-inch tart. I also had way too much onion. I measured the 2.5 lbs by weight. Knowing that I had so much dough & onions, I decided to make a ten-inch tart. I upped the egg and cream by 1/3, using three eggs and one cup of cream, and it filled the ten-inch shell perfectly.
LealaM
Great recipe! I cooked my onions in an instant pot to shorten the time. Manual pressure for 10 minutes on High. Then finished with sauté function to reduce water and get a bit more color and flavor.
Phillip
This quiche was incredible! I made it for an Easter potluck and it was a huge hit. I never knew that I could make something so seemingly complicated, so this dish feels like a milestone for me as a chef. Thank you Melissa for the recipe!
That said, I used 3 eggs instead of 2 as it looked like caramelized onions with a bit of egg at first, and it gave the quiche the perfect, custard-y filling. I will definitely try making this again!
ABosFish
When I read that the onions needed to cook for an hour, I almost didn't believe the recipe. Nevertheless I persisted, and they cooked down to a manageable mess that fit my 11.5" tart pan perfectly after being combined with the other ingredients. It's a good idea to watch the video before preparing--I found it helpful to see exactly how the crust should come together in the food processor. 1:08 shows the consistency it should be before being shaped/chilled.
j
Tip for the onions: first cook them in a dutch oven pan, with the lid on, for a good 25 minutes. Stir about twice. After that, the onions are really soft already and you can continue to cook them with the lid off for another 35 minutes or more, stirring more frequently. This way you don't risk the onions browning before they are cooked all the way through. Got this tip from Julia Child, check her video on French Onion soup on Youtube for instructions! I only needed about 1 ounce of cheese.
Benjamin Gallegos
This recipe ended up being a family favorite. It's absolutely delicious! I ended up using two extra eggs, an extra 1/2 tablespoon of flour, a red bell pepper, and a bag of spinach. I just cooked the spinach separately till cooked and then added it. I also used bacon instead of lardons and limited the onions to three vedalieas. The additional eggs and vegetables allowed for two vegetable heavy 9-inch quiches that were about an inch thick. Albeit very fattening, I would highly recommend.
Sasha
This is really more of a very sweet onion tart than a quiche. The amount of filling overwhelms the custard, so it becomes more of an onion confit with an egg binding. In my mind a quiche is primarily a silky, lusciously flavoured custard.
That said, it was very good. Too sweet for my tastes, but that's a personal preference. If you're looking for a quiche, look for a more traditional recipe; if you desire a sweet onion tart, look no further.
Amelia
I've made this quiche twice and it is so good! I followed others' comments and included three eggs instead of two. I also used fewer onions - the first time I made this I used four small onions and the second time I used two very large ones and one smaller one. Both times I liked that ratio of onion to egg. Could not recommend this recipe enough!
Joanna
Fantastic recipe! The crust was absolutely incredible. For the filling, I used 3 eggs, and for the onions, I’ve let it cook for about 20 min (maybe less), and yet the result was unbelievable!
Robert R
Just as an aside, I really love the Times' cooking videos. Simple and elegant, with spoken instructions replaced by lovely music, they are a joy to watch and very instructive for technique.
Abidjan Food Lover
Do not forget to add the little chunks of butter to the top of the quiche. Otherwise it will be missing the iconic golden color.
Brizz
This is a supremely strange food. I kinda like it.
Christian
Tast like heaven.... I made it with crème fraîche... The crust is also deliciously crispy. Thank you
Nan
Wonderful tart! Half the dough would be enough. I intended to follow the recipe exactly, but realized too late that I'd forgotten to add the flour to the onions. And, admittedly, as usual I skipped the blind baking, just started in a very hot oven. It was still perfectly wonderful!
Cherie
This pie dough makes enough for two quiches, not one. A wonderful recipe!
Devon
such a banger!
Ralf
I used a combustion predictive thermometer to bake my quiche to an internal temp of 165°F, carry over to 185°F (74°C and 85°C). The time was longer than given here and it came out amazing with a crunchier crust than I usually get.
Cass
Like many others, I used 3 eggs and a 10” tart pan. My onions caramelized more than the video shows. I didn’t see the video until after I prepared this. But the flavor is divine. I used 2.5 lbs of onions as described in the recipe.
ML
This was sooooo good! I didn’t have any heavy cream — I didn’t actually even have any milk! So I made this with whole goat milk yogurt. The added tang was incredible.
Emma
I don’t think you tested this for grams that’s way too much butter I can’t use this dough really disappointing and a waste of food
Nicole Peeler
Try 20-25 minutes blind bake Smaller pea butter
Eliza
This has such a lovely texture and flavor - the nutmeg is a really wonderful addition. I've also made it with a premade crust when I didn't feel like making the dough.
Coco73
Great recipe! My brunch guests all loved it! Tweaked a bit following notes - I also prefer a whole wheat crust, so subbed 1c whole wheat flour and skipped sugar. For 11 inch tart pan - increased to 4 eggs and 3/4c cream. I also sliced my onions with a mandoline and used 4oz (one package) of pancetta that after cooking I mixed with cooked onions and then added to the egg mixture. Delish!
Stephanie
Wonderful recipe, this was a hit at a recent brunch. I thought there was NO WAY the onions would cook down enough (weighed the chopped onions to be 2.5 lbs) but sure enough, after an hour it worked out fine. I also panicked halfway through making this as I read comments that people used a larger tart pan, but I had already rolled my dough into the 9-inch pan. I was shocked that the filling fit, but it did. Will make this regularly.
JM
This was so good and so easy. I used Trader Joe’s frozen pie dough for the crust and sliced the onions in the food processor. Added a splash of sherry vinegar and a little thyme in with the onions, and used milk instead of cream because we had it on hand. I forgot the butter on top but it still browned really well. It also set up great and cut really neatly.
Frankie Leftwich
What are lardons?
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
