Some of the best tips for making shortcrust pastry include using cold butter, working quickly, and using a light hand. It is important to use cold butter because this helps create a flaky texture. As such, keep the small pieces of butter chilled until ready to use. Shortcrust pastry should ideally be worked quickly and lightly, to prevent the butter from melting and the pastry from becoming tough due to being overworked. Use your fingertips to 'rub' the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles shredded cheese.
With an easy leek quiche recipe, making a classic, French quiche is incredibly easy! To learn more about the delicious French classic, keep reading below.
Fibre | 33.3 gram fibers |
Protein | 96.6 % |
Carbohydrates | 185.7 % |
Fat | 105.3 gram |
Wheat flour (approx. 3 dl)
|
175 g |
---|---|
Fine salt
|
¼ tsp |
Cold butter
|
100 g |
Water
|
1 tbsp |
Leeks (approx. 375 g), cut into thin rings
|
5 |
---|---|
Water
|
½ litre |
Fine salt
|
1 tsp |
Eggs
|
3 |
Wheat flour
|
4 tsp |
Nutmeg, grated
|
1 tsp |
Fine salt
|
1 tsp |
Quark 0.3%
|
200 g |
Salt-cured ham, thin slices
|
100 g |
---|---|
Green salads
|
225 g |
Served warm with salt-cured ham and a green salad, a simple, yet classic, leak quiche makes for a great lunch or dinner. As it may be enjoyed either warm or cold, it also makes for delicious leftovers that are sure to brighten up any packed lunch. It also works great as part of a cold brunch or lunch spread.
If you want to serve the leek quiche as a delicious starter rather than a main course, simply cut them into small squares or triangles and serve them as small hors d’oeuvres. You might want to follow this starter with another French classic like coq au vin and finish with a light and fruity dessert like our blueberry meringue cake or something like our homemade French parfait ice cream that you can easily make ahead of time.
Serving leek quiche with some well-selected sides only improves the scrumptious experience. It pairs nicely with a fresh salad to brighten its richness. Combining the crispy green salad with the soft quiche adds some delicious variety to the overall texture. In addition, serving with chewy salt-cured ham adds a different textural element but its main claim to fame is how its salty flavour perfectly complements the rich, tasty cheese, egg, and leek filling.
Shortcrust pastry has a mild and neutral flavour that does not overpower the filling. This is especially important in a leek quiche, in which the delicate flavour of the nutmeg-flavoured leeks should be the star of the dish.
This type of pastry is sturdy and holds up well to heavy and moist fillings, such as our recipe’s creamy egg custard and leek filling. The crust provides a firm and stable base for the filling, ensuring that your leek quiche does not become soggy or fall apart when you bake it.
Leek quiche is a savoury tart traditionally associated with French cuisine and typically made with a crust of buttery pastry and a filling of leeks, eggs, cheese, and spices. What makes cheese and leek quiche traditional is its use of classic French ingredients and cooking techniques. Leeks are a typical and staple ingredient in French cuisine and are often used in soups, stews, and savoury tarts, as is the shortcrust pastry, both savoury and sweet.
The combination of the tender egg custard filling and the buttery, crumbly pastry is a match made in heaven. The nutmeg-spiced filling is decadently rich but by using quark, the overall flavour profile is kept fresh as it adds a wonderful acidity. The leeks give the filling its characteristic depth and savouriness for which leek quiches are known and loved.
Some popular choices for other delicious vegetables to add to the filling include bitter-sweet asparagus, earthy potato, depth-enhancing onion, mild broccoli, and sweet-tangy tomato. A spinach and leek quiche is also quite popular as the spinach’s slight bitterness balances the richness of the filling wonderfully. This combination also tastes great with crumbled goat cheese in the egg and cheese curd custard for a bit of additional savouriness and salt.
If you greatly enjoy serving salt-cured ham on the side, you will be delighted to know that you can cut out the middleman and simply make a ham and leek quiche with pieces of rich, salty ham in the filling. Similarly, a bacon and leek quiche also creates this wonderful combination of salt, umami, and richness that makes these variations so delicious. Adding meat or fish is also sure to make it even more tasty, especially if you opt for a tender chicken and leek quiche or a salty smoked salmon and leek quiche.
Another way to introduce delicious umami flavours is to make a mushroom leek quiche. Mushrooms are known for their earthy, meaty flavour that is dripping with umami.