A version of Quiche Lorraine made with an all-beef bacon substitute. Feel free to use regular bacon if you eat pork.
Ingredients
Crust
7 ounces cold, unsalted butter
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup ice water
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Filling
8 slices Schmacon (or bacon)
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup grated Cabot Creamery Alpine Cheddar
5 large eggs
20 oz whole milk
Pinch nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Cut the butter into small cubes and place half of the cubes in the freezer. Return the other half to the refrigerator until needed.
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the chilled butter from the refrigerator to the dry ingredients and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is in small but still visible pieces.
Combine the lemon juice and ice water and add six tablespoons of the mixture to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse several times until combined. Pinch a bit of the dough and if it holds together, you do not need to add more liquid. If it is still dry, add more of the liquid, one-half tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough to a bowl or a well-floured board.
Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into two and wrap each half well in plastic wrap. Place half the dough in the refrigerator to relax for at least a half-hour. (Can be done in advance.) Reserve the other half for another use.
If your dough was chilled for longer than thirty minutes, remove from the refrigerator and allow to soften for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it out.
Prior to rolling out the dough, strike it with your rolling pin to flatten. This will soften it further.
Preheat the oven to 375 and grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan.
Liberally dust a pastry board or mat and your rolling pin with flour.
Roll the dough out, rotating it and turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until it is the size of your pie plate and between ¼ and ⅛ of an inch thick.
Carefully center the pie dough in the pan and press it into the bottom and sides. Trim or fold over any excess dough around the edges and make a nice edge by pressing the tines of a fork to create ridges. Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork to prevent blistering.
Blind bake the crust by covering it with parchment paper and filling with pie weights or raw rice. Bake for twenty minutes, then remove the parchment paper and pie weight and bake an additional five minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the crust to cool completely before filling.
Turn oven down to 325.
Meanwhile, cook the Schmacon or bacon in a skillet until crisp and drain on paper towels. Chop into pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet and sauté the onions over medium heat until softened and golden, about fifteen minutes.
Place the pieces of Schmacon (or bacon) and the onion in the bottom of the baked quiche crust. Top with half the grated cheese.
Whisk together the eggs and milk in a large bowl until frothy. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture over the bacon and onion. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake the quiche until the middle is golden and set but still with a little jiggle to it, about 75-90 minutes.
Allow the quiche to cool before slicing.
Recipe by West of the Loop at https://www.westoftheloop.com/2015/03/11/quiche-lorraine-with-schmacon/