INGREDIENTS

For the dough

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, chilled and cubed

1/4 cup cold water

For the filling

6 slices bacon, chopped

4 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (5.3 ounce) package garlic and herb Boursin cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, plus more for topping

RECIPE

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and butter pieces in a food processor. Pulse until butter is in pea-sized pieces.
Add the water and blend until a dough ball forms.
Transfer to a work surface and knead until smooth. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 F.
Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness and press into a pie or tart tin.
Add parchment to the bottom, then fill with pie weights or beans.
Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the pie weights and parchment.
While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. First crisp the bacon in a skillet until brown, then drain on paper towels.
Whisk eggs, cream, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper together in a bowl or measuring cup.
Add the bacon to the quiche shell, then crumble the Boursin cheese into the shell.
Pour the egg filling over the bacon and cheese. Sprinkle on the chives.
Reduce the oven to 350F.
Return the quiche to the oven and bake until jiggly but set, about 40 minutes.
Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I was a quiche hater for a long time for virtually no reason at all. I’m not even sure when I had a quiche that made me hate them so much — I think it was simply the idea of an egg pie that turned me off.

That all changed when I started working for Luna Bakery. If you didn’t know already, I worked in the bakery as a super-assistant (read: bumbling idiot), essentially for the purpose of learning to bake. It was one of the best experiences of my life and something I’d recommend to anyone interested in food, especially baking, and especially if you hate it. I learned to love the art of baking — and most of all, the music of the kitchen.

I also learned to love quiche. Every Friday, the head baker would make three painstakingly large, deep-dish quiche from scratch. All different flavors, of course, and filled to the brim with eggs and cheese. It was an all-day process and a total mystery to me until I finally — a year and a half in — tried the quiche.

My god, why had I never experienced breakfast this way before?

I am pretty adamant that quiche is best made deep dish in a great big springform pan, but I’m also realistic about how much effort most people would really want to put into a quiche. Deep dish quiche is, at minimum, an all-day affair. A shallow quiche can be whipped up pretty quickly. They’re actually made the same way, but a deep-dish quiche is at least double, if not triple, the ingredients and time. It’s a gazillion times more fluffy, though, so if you’re looking to impress… make it deep dish. And most of all, make it from scratch. Day to day you might not care as much about whether a crust is buttery or not. If that’s the case, shave 40-some minutes off of the recipe by using a store-bought crust.

Possibly the hardest part of making quiche is knowing when it’s done. At the bakery, our head baker intuitively knew when it was time, and eventually I had a pretty good sense of what to look for, too. First, the shell: It should be golden brown all over, especially on the bottom. Since it will be filled with beans you’ll mostly have to guess. Generally if the tops are pretty browned, you’ll be fine.

For the egg custard, there’s a few things to look for. The egg will puff up like a soufflé and stay that way until completely removed from the heat. In most quiche, the cheese will brown, another indication that the filling is cooked. The boursin in this recipe won’t brown, so instead look at the egg alone. The filling should be firm, but jiggly — but not liquidy or wet. This may take some practice to see the difference, but when you know, you’ll know.

You can also simply temp it with an instant-read thermometer. The middle of the quiche should read between 165 and 175 F — I’d go a bit lower assuming that the eggs will cook a bit longer in residual heat. Plus, I prefer a softer custard.

Enjoy.

Serves: 8 slices

Prep time: 45 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour