“If you can mock a leek, you can eat a leek.”

– William Shakespeare, Henry V.

Leeks? Love ’em. (Just like lemons, ginger, chocolate, and all the other beloved foods I’ve already mentioned.) Red onions, scallions, shallots, leeks – I pretty much love them all. Which is funny because as a kid, I hated anything at all piquant, like onions or mustard or peppers. I guess my taste buds have grown up, because I can seriously get down for spicy these days.

Not that leeks are all that spicy. Much milder than other onions, and gorgeous when sauteed in butter, they are such a versatile member of the allium family. They were depicted in ancient Egyptian art, featured in ancient Roman feasts, and are, of course, one of the national symbols of Wales (read more here). Leeks also have some great health benefits, contain antioxidants, and can help give you good hair, clear skin, and strong nails. Yay! Let’s hear it for leeks!

The Perfect Crust

So, we’ve got leeks covered, now let’s talk about that quiche crust.

I’ve been playing around with a couple of different versions of my pie crust recipes, trying to land on the perfect shell to hold all of this quichy goodness. I wanted something sturdy-but-flaky, leak-proof, and needing no blind baking.

I’m delighted to say that this crust is THE ONE. By adding a little bit of white whole wheat flour (extra protein) and upping the ice water a smidge (because wheat flour absorbs more water than all-purpose), it helped with the structure and sturdiness of the shell. The dough handled like a dream, didn’t tear easily or get soggy, and the final product tasted really, really good. This is a crust that lets the custard ingredients shine while still adding its own special, subtle something.

Best of all, it’s super easy to make. So long as you keep it chill (pun intended) and don’t take an eon to roll it out, it will do you proud. I’m also thinking you could pretty confidently swap out regular whole wheat flour for the white whole wheat flour, though it would probably lend a stronger wheat flavor and darker color. If you decide to try that, let us all know how it works out.

Tips

• Chill the dough and chill the rolled-out shell.
• Egg to cream ratio – a lot of people swear by the 1:2 ratio by weight, e.g. 1 egg (roughly 2 ounces) to 1/2 cup milk (roughly 4 ounces) – but I almost always boost my egg count and have yet to turn out a rubbery quiche.
• Don’t overbake – keep a slight jiggle in the middle.
• Using fresh thyme makes a big difference in this recipe, flavor-wise.
• You can use all whole milk, all half-and-half, all cream, or a combo of any of them – just know that the higher the fat content of the dairy, the thicker and firmer your quiche will be.
• If you do use all milk, you may want to up the grated Parmesan cheese to a full cup.

Reality Bakes

My first quiche crust experiment didn’t work. At all. The dough tore like crazy when I was rolling it out, even though chilled. I blind baked it just to see what would happen and it turned into a greasy, bubbly mess. Oh, and did I mention that it shrunk like mad? Diagnosis? Too wet, too warm (even though I chilled it), and too soft. (I also have some new thoughts about blind baking, but I’ll save those for a future post.)