Recipe
1 hr
Cheese Quiche for Two
The ideal quiche for two has tender, flaky pastry and velvety custard.
Time
1 hrYield
Serves 2Why This Recipe Works
To tailor a classic quiche to serve two, we first needed to ditch our full-size pie plate. A 6-inch pie plate produced a perfect-size quiche for two people. For a crisp, flaky crust, we parbaked the dough to keep the filling from turning the crust soggy. For the filling, two eggs and 2⁄3 cup of half-and-half gave us a creamy texture and lightly eggy flavor. Cheddar cheese and minced herbs rounded out the flavor. Taking the quiche out of the oven when the center looked slightly underdone allowed carryover cooking to produce a perfectly cooked quiche. You will need a 6-inch pie plate for this recipe.
Ingredients
Pie Dough
1 cup (5 ounces/142 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces and chilled
3 - 5 tablespoons ice water
Filling
⅔ cup half-and-half
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons minced fresh chives or parsley
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (½ cup)
Instructions
Cook along with these step-by-step instructions
- FOR THE PIE DOUGH: Process flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter shortening over top and process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 10 seconds. Scatter butter over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses.Recipe TipWe prefer the buttery flavor and flaky texture of homemade pie dough; however, you can substitute 1 (9-inch) store-bought pie dough round if desired.
- Transfer mixture to bowl. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Using rubber spatula, stir and press dough until it sticks together. If dough does not come together, stir in remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
- Form dough into 3-inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling. (Wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.)
- Roll dough into 10-inch circle, about 3/8 inch thick, on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 6-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand, letting excess dough overhang plate.
- Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond lip of pie plate. Tuck overhand under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of pie using your fingers. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and place in freezer until dough is fully chilled and firm, about 20 minutes.
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line chilled pie shell with parchment paper or double layer of aluminum foil, covering edges to prevent burning, and fill with pie weights. Bake until pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pie plate to wire rack and remove weights and parchment. (Crust must still be warm when custard filling is added.)
- FOR THE FILLING: Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Whisk half-and-half, eggs, chives, salt, and pepper together in 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Stir in cheddar until well combined.
- Place warm baked pie crust on prepared sheet and return shell to oven. Carefully pour egg mixture into crust until it reaches about 1/2 inch from top edge of crust (you may have extra egg mixture). Bake quiche until top is lightly browned, very center still jiggles and looks slightly underdone, and knife inserted about 1 inch from edge comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Let quiche cool on wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.Recipe TipWe love cheddar cheese in this quiche but you can use whatever you have on hand like gouda, pepperjack, mozzarella, or gruyere.
