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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
So, SO good! The tip to add brown sugar to the caramelized onions really enhanced this dish. Thank you so much for sharing this. Even an non-onion eater loved this quiche. Awesome crust recipe too.
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It was so delicious. I added a tablespoon of brown sugar when the onions were almost done and I diced and fried prosciutto and layered it on top of the onions.
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This looks yummy!! Any ideas about the best way to freeze this/if it’s freezable? I’d love to double the recipe and freeze one as I’m prepping for having a baby! Thanks!
Our own Emma addressed this question very well in another lifetime, so I’ll link to her how-to right here.
I did just as you and stocked my freezer with meals before I had my baby. It gives you great peace of mind, and I bet you’ll find you’ll be HUNGRY! Best of luck with everything, Katie!
You did not tell us at what temperature to bake the quiche! I did it at 375 degrees
Hi Gerald,
Ah-ha! I assume it’s 350 degrees, since the oven would already be set at that temperature from blind baking the crust. 375 degrees would give a more curdled quiche. How did you feel about how yours turned out? I’ll see if we can change the text to make it clearer at that step.
Hi Gerald, I can see how that would be confusing. You bake the quiche in the same oven at the same temperature as you pre-baked the crust. I’ve added the temp again to the baking instructions to make it easier to understand. Thank you for your feedback!
I made this with a few changes. I added 1/2 pound bacon pieces, I didn’t have cream and milk so I used half & half.
I layered 1/2 the cheese, all the onion, all the bacon and toped with the remainder of the cheese. After pouring in the egg mixture I topped it with 3 to 4 Tbs. chopped scallion and baked as directed. This is so good that I may eat this as a dessert.
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