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Ever wake up in the morning with a craving for a specific food?
This morning it was quiche, specifically an onion quiche. To my dear father who turned up his nose at this masterpiece, mumbling something about real men, I say, “phooey.”
Kudos to my brother Ed, who almost made up for dad’s transgression, by saying just “damn good” after inhaling a piece at dinner.
Caramelized Onion Quiche Recipe
Note that although this recipe calls for making a pie crust from scratch, you can easily use an already prepared frozen pie crust. Just pre-bake it using the directions that follow.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe pie dough (see Pâte Brisée recipe)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 large red onions (about one pound total), French-cut (see below)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 large eggs
- Pinch nutmeg
- 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (1 1/2 cups)
Method
Slicing Onions Stem to Root
To caramelize onions, you'll want to slice them lengthwise, or from stem end to root end. That way the onions will hold their shape better during the long cooking involved in caramelizing. (See How to Slice an Onion for more details.)
1 First, use a sharp knife, get a firm grip on the onion, and slice off the stem end of the onion, by about a 1/2 inch. Cut about 1/8th of an inch from the root end, cutting off the roots, but leaving the core intact. Then place the onion root side up on the board to stabilize it, and cut it in half, straight through the root end.
2 Peel back the papery skin of the onions. If you want, to keep your cutting area clean, cut off the roots with the skins, but cut only enough to cut off the messy roots. Keep the root end intact. It will make it easier to slice the onion.
3 With an onion half cut-side down on the board to stabilize it, make angled cuts into the onion, from stem end to root end, cutting to, but not through the root end. Work your way around the arc of the onion, aiming your knife's blade toward the center of the onion.
4 Make a "V" cut in the root end of the onion to cut out the tough root end, to release the onion slices.
Pre-Bake the Crust
1 Make a frozen tart crust: If you are making your own crust (instead of using an already prepared frozen crust), roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface, into a 12-inch circle. Fit into a 9-by-1 1/2-inch round tart pan (or 9-inch pie dish), pressing dough into corners, extending the edges extra high to allow for shrinkage. Transfer to freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
2 Line frozen crust with foil and pie weights: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line pastry with aluminum foil, pressing into the corners and edges, allowing extra foil on the sides (they'll be your handles when you remove the foil).
Fill at least two-thirds with baking weights—dried beans, rice, copper pennies, or ceramic or metal pie weights.
3 Bake with weights: Bake first for 15 minutes, remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. Carefully remove aluminum foil and weights.
4 Remove weights and bake again: Poke the bottom of the pie pan with the tines of a fork and return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly golden. (Fork holes are for any air to escape.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool while making filling.
Caramelizing the Onions and Preparing the Quiche
The onions will take about an hour to cook on the stovetop before they are ready to go into the quiche. So timing-wise, if you are making the entire quiche from scratch, it makes sense to get started on the onions once you've put the crust into the freezer to chill before pre-baking.
1 Caramelize the onions: Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions and sprinkle a little salt over them. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened and are translucent. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an additional 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are well browned. (See How to Caramelize Onions for more details.)
Add 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar and cook for 10 minutes more, until onions are completely caramelized. Remove from heat.
2 Assemble the quiche: Place tart pan on a baking sheet to catch any run-off there might be. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread onions over the cheese and then top with remaining cheese.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, and eggs. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Pour over the tart.
3 Bake the quiche: Transfer to the 350°F oven, and bake until just set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Caramelized Onion Quiche
Used this as base for more traditional lardon quiche with caramelized onion (I make my own bacon so lardon cut easier along with traditional). Worked out perfectly! Inadvertently discovered using the fat from cooking the lardons imparts an amazing dimension to dark brown caramelized onions if you use excess onion for another project.
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Lardons are so good in soups, stews, salads, etc. Almost makes me feel sorry for folks using sliced bacon! Have fun making food amazing with that homemade bacon.
It came out beautifully, it was a hit . I especially appreciated the tips on how to cut and caramelise the onions. I used cheddar cheese and it came out fine. It helps to follow all the rules about pastry making… everything very cold , popping prepared crust into fridge before and after ( in the tart pan) rolling out .
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Does it help to grease the pan?
Hi Andrew, I know Elise does not grease her tart and pie pans, since there’s so much butter in the crust. But if you are afraid of the crust sticking or have had quiche stick for you before, it can’t hurt to grease it.
I attempted this recipe with not the best result. The flavours are amazing however the quiche itself was not fully set and very runny. Not sure if it was filled with too much onion that didn’t allow the egg mixture to cook properly. It was missing that classic egg consistency you find in most quiches. Curious to see if I’m the only one who experience this result.
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I just baked this and it was delicious! Dont think ill ever go back to store bought quiche again! I however have 1 question, the bottom of my pastry went a bit soggy cause of the liquid, any tips to stop that? Thankyou!
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Hi Kaytlyn, I would just make sure the onions are well caramelized before adding them, and also make sure that you have a good layer of cheese at the bottom of the quiche.
You may not have pre baked enough . I use pre-made deep dish pie shells. I have brushed the bottom of the pie shell with a bit of water and egg wash and that helps. Also bake until knife inserted comes out clean.