Make this bacon and onion quiche the centerpiece of your Easter brunch

I love a good brunch because I am not held to one type of food. You can have dishes normally served at lunch and dinner alongside French toast and other breakfast items. In my opinion, it’s the best of all worlds.

So at our house, celebrating Easter means brunch. It is an excuse to make everyone’s favorite dishes and serve them all at the same meal. We usually have ham, cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, either an egg or French toast casserole, smoked salmon, fresh fruit, roasted vegetables and some type of sweet baked treat like scones, cinnamon rolls or banana bread.

This year I decided to make quiche instead of the egg casserole and have the best recipe to share with you — a bacon, caramelized onion and Gruyère cheese version.

A few years ago, I took an online cooking class with Bread Ahead, a bakery and cooking school in London, where we cooked along with the instructor and class via Zoom. The class had four sessions focusing on picnic foods, and during one session we made a fruit tart and this delicious quiche. The thing they had in common was the use of a tart pan, but I adjusted the recipe to fit a deep dish traditional nine-inch pie pan.

This class is where I learned the value of weighing my ingredients. To do this, I bought a small digital scale for less than $20 and have been using it ever since. Weighing ingredients allows you to be exact, something important for consistency in baking, as it is very science-based. A cup of flour that has been sifted instead of packed into the measuring cup yields a very different measurement, and using the wrong amount can have a significant impact on a recipe. When you weigh your ingredients you get the same amount every time, with the bonus of not dirtying your measuring cups.

The original recipe weighed ingredients in grams, so my handy scale that weighs in both grams and ounces came in very handy. (But don’t worry; after weighing the ingredients I measured everything using measuring cups and spoons in case you don’t already have a scale at home.)

Of course, a quiche starts with a crust, and this recipe is no exception. Feel free to use a prepared crust, but if you want to try making your own, here are a few tips. Flour and a little salt are combined, and then small. cold pieces of butter are cut, or in my case pinched, into the flour mixture. I remember being told to think of my hands as lobster claws and to only use my fingers — no palms — to incorporate the butter. This ensures you still have small pieces of butter in the dough, which helps create a flaky crust. You can also use a food processor to make the crust dough, as the blade does the same thing as your fingers.

Eggs and ice water are added next to form a dough that should still be a little crumbly. I use my hands to gently gather the dough fragments into a ball and place it on a piece of plastic wrap, which I use to wrap the dough before placing it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This allows the moisture to equally distribute and eliminate the crumbly texture.

The crust needs to be partially baked before adding the filling. Since the crust contains a fair amount of butter, the dough needs to be chilled again after rolling and placing it in your pie pan. This, along with the use of pie weights, will help keep it from shrinking while baking.

While the crust may be some people’s favorite part, mine is definitely the filling. In this case, crisp pieces of bacon and caramelized onions are combined with Gruyère cheese, eggs and heavy cream to make the best-tasting quiche I have ever eaten.

This quiche has become a favorite at bridal and baby showers, where I am always asked for the recipe.

And while this is my favorite ingredient combination, you can make it your own by adding your favorite ingredients. Just be sure not to add too much moisture and keep the proportions similar to avoid overfilling the crust.

I remember a book published years ago titled “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche,” but in my house they definitely do!

• Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, won the 2011 Daily Herald Cook of the Week Challenge. Contact Penny at DhCulinaryAdventures@gmail.com.

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Best Ever Bacon and Caramelized Onion Quiche

For the crust

2½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon (6 grams) salt

10 tablespoons (150 grams) cold butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons (42 grams) ice water

1 large egg

2 egg yolks

For the egg wash

1 egg

1 tablespoon water or milk

For the filling

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

8 ounces bacon, cooked until crisp and cut into ½-inch pieces

1¾ cups heavy cream

7 eggs

Salt and pepper

5 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated

9” deep dish pie pan

Combine flour and salt in bowl; stir to combine. Add cold butter and incorporate with fingertips until the mixture resembles small peas and holds together when held tightly in hand. Add ice water and eggs. Using a rubber spatula, bring mixture together until moisture is distributed equally, being careful not to “mix” and develop too much gluten. (You may need to use your hands.) The dough may have an uneven color due to remaining small bits of butter and egg; that is fine. Using hands, pull dough together into a loose ball and place on a sheet of plastic wrap along with any remaining crumbs. Using hands and plastic wrap, press dough together to form a ball. Wrap in plastic and flatten into a disc. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

While crust is chilling, add olive oil to a large skillet and gently sweat the onions with a pinch of salt until they are soft and lightly browned, around 10-15 minutes. Set aside.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then roll out the pastry to fit your pie pan. Prick the pastry with a fork, then place the pan with the pastry in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place crust-lined pie pan on a baking tray. Line pastry with parchment and fill with pastry weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes.

Prepare egg wash by combining egg and either water or milk, mixing thoroughly to combine.

Remove the paper and beans, brush the pastry with a little egg wash and place back into the oven for 3 minutes.

Place bacon, onions and half of the cheese in the pastry shell.

Combine cream and eggs in bowl, whisking to thoroughly to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into the pastry shell; don’t over fill. Top with grated cheese.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. It’s ready when it’s puffed up, but still a little wobbly at the center. If the crust is browning too much around the edges, you can use a pie shield or wrap aluminum foil around the edge of the pie pan, being careful not to cover the filling. Allow baked quiche to sit 10-15 minutes prior to serving.

Serves 8

— Penny Kazmier