Leek quiche

Leek quiche

1 h
Leek quiche is a classic in French cuisine that is sure to delight your family and friends. It features tender leeks combined with a creamy egg custard filling and a buttery shortcrust pastry. The nutmeg-spiced filling is decadently rich but kept fresh with the addition of quark, and it pairs perfectly with salt-cured ham and a refreshing green salad. Making leek quiche at home is surprisingly easy with our simple recipe and it is perfect for serving warm or cold for lunch or dinner.
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Instructions

Shortcrust pastry:
  • Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and crumble it into the flour mixture until it looks like shredded cheese.
  • Add water and quickly combine the shortcrust pastry.
  • Line a greased springform tin with the pastry. It should cover ¾ of the tin’s sides.
  • Cover the crust and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (regular oven).
  • Prebake the crust in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes.
Leek filling:
  • Add leeks to boiling, salted water. Cook at low heat with the lid on for about 3 minutes. Let them drip off in a sieve.
  • Mix eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl.
  • Fold in quark and add the leeks.
  • Pour the filling into the prebaked quiche crust and bake the leek quiche in the middle of the oven for about 35 minutes.
  • Serve it either warm or cold with salt-cured ham and green salad.
Enjoy!
Tips

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.

Questions about leek quiche

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.

What is leek quiche?
A quiche is a baked savoury pastry dish made with a crust of flaky, buttery pastry dough and usually a filling of eggs, cream, cheese, and various ingredients such as vegetables, meats, or seafood. It is a classic in French cuisine and can be served as a main course, side dish, or appetizer. A leek quiche features leeks as the main ingredient. It is delicious and satisfying, combining the delicate flavour of leeks with the rich and creamy texture of the egg custard filling.
How to make a leek quiche?
A leek quiche makes a terrific lunch, dinner, or leftover dish. Make the shortcrust pastry by mixing flour, salt, and cold butter. Add water until the pastry comes together. Roll out and line a greased springform tin with the pastry, then refrigerate. Preheat the oven and prebake the crust for 15 minutes. For the filling, cook leeks and mix them with a mixture of eggs, flour, nutmeg, salt, and quark. Pour the filling into the prebaked crust and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.
What to serve with leek quiche?
Leek quiche can be served with tasty sides like a green salad, salt-cured ham, bread, roasted vegetables, or the like. A green salad is refreshing and complements the rich filling of the quiche well, while salt-cured ham adds a salty and flavourful contrast to the mild-tasting leeks. Bread, such as crusty baguette or flavourful sourdough bread, can also be used to create a bit of textural contrast, and roasted vegetables make for a colourful, tasty side that complements the savoury leek flavours.
How long will a leek quiche last in the fridge?
A leek quiche can last for 3-4 days in the fridge if stored properly in an airtight container. To store it, let it cool, cover it with plastic wrap or aluminium foil, and place it in a container. If eating within a day or two, cover it with cling film or foil in the tin instead. Reheat in a preheated oven at 175°C for 10-15 minutes. If you know you will not have the opportunity to enjoy it within 3-4 days, consider freezing it to prolong its shelf life.
Can I freeze a leek quiche?
Yes, you can freeze a leek quiche by letting it cool completely, wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap or aluminium foil, and freezing it for up to 2-3 months. To reheat the quiche, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then bake it in a preheated oven at 175°C for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through. Keep in mind that the texture of the crust may be slightly different after thawing and reheating, but it will still be safe to eat and should retain its lovely flavours.

Nutritional values

Nutritional value, per

Fibre 33.3 gram fibers
Protein 96.6
Carbohydrates 185.7
Fat 105.3 gram

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry:
Wheat flour (approx. 3 dl)
175 g
Fine salt
¼ tsp
Cold butter
100 g
Water
1 tbsp
Leek filling:
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
Serve with:
Salt-cured ham, thin slices
100 g
Green salads
225 g
Other recipes
See more

Easy leek quiche with quark

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.

Serve with salt-cured ham and green salad

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.

Get the best result with homemade shortcrust pastry

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.

Impress family or guests with a traditional leek quiche

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.

Experiment with the ingredients

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.

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