Crab & Leek Quiche

I remember when I was younger my mom would always buy those frozen pre-made quiches from the grocery store. I would scoop out all of the filling and go straight for the pie crust. Makes sense, since I love pie crust and basically still do this with fruit pies.

Quiches are so simple and although they have a fancy french name, they are basically an omelet with a crust. You can put any type of filling you like in them, the possibilities are endless. I had some lump crab meat and a few leeks from school which pair together nicely.

This dish is so warm and comforting, especially during the colder months.

Crab & Leek Quiche Recipe [with asparagus tips]
You will need a tart dish, with a removable bottom, 9 or 10 inches.

Pate Brisee [pie crust]
(adapted from my culinary foundations recipe book)
- 8 oz AP flour
- 4 oz butter; cold and diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp water [*I actually ended up using 1 tbsp water, because the dough was just too dry]

Filling
- 16 oz lump crab meat
- 2 leeks, medium dice
- 1/2 cup asparagus tips, cooked (optional)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup half & half
- 1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper

To make the crust, combine the flour and butter and pulse in a food processor until it has the texture of coarse meal. Dissolve the salt into the water and add it to the flour/butter along with the egg yolks.
Pulse just until combined. Turn out onto a cutting board and form into a ball. Wrap it in plastic and shape it in to a disk and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.


Preheat oven to 350 F.

After the dough is cold, roll it out onto a floured board about 2 inches thick, and 3 finger lengths bigger than the tart mold. Press the dough into the tart pan and remove the excess. 

Line the pan with tin foil or parchment paper and fill with baking beads or dried beans.

Then bake it for 15 minutes with the beans on top of it [*This is called blind baking]. Remove it from the oven and remove the beans (be careful, they will be hot!) and bake the crust for another 5 minutes.

[*Note: Once the crust is baked, raise the oven temp to 400F]
While the crust is first baking, make the filling. Saute the leeks in a pan with 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the four eggs, half & half, salt and pepper.

Add the crab and asparagus to the leeks once they are cooked and mix together. Turn off the heat.

Spread evenly over the crust, top that with the grated cheese, and slowly pour the egg mixture over the top.

Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the quiche does not jiggle.

Enjoy!