Leek, Garlic, Cheese and Tomato Quiche

Here is a simple recipe for a tasty quiche that I sometimes make. My last one looked like this:

Here’s how I made it:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. I tend to use pre-made pastry when I am lazy because I don’t usually have time to make pastry. I know this is considered illegal by most foodies, but I don’t care what they think. So… I use a pre-made pastry. Sue me. Put your pastry into a pie pan and then poke holes in it with a fork. Line it with a bunch of baking beans or other heavy thing and place it in the oven to par bake for about 10-15 minutes (watch it closely – you want the pastry to be just barely cooked and not very brown).
3. Meanwhile, sauté a few leeks, shallots and garlic in butter. How much you use depends on how many quiche you are making. If you are making one (as I usually am) you want to end up with about 1 1/2 cups of cooked leek/garlic/shallot mixture.  You can replace the leeks with regular onions if you want, but leeks are sweeter and have a better flavor for this kind of thing, in my opinion.
4. Take your par baked pastry out of the oven if you haven’t already and remove the baking beans, etc. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet (this will make it easier to get it back into the oven once it is filled to the brim with the egg mixture). Then, put the leek mixture into the pastry.
5. Top this with some shredded cheese (what kind you use is up to you. I used a local wild garlic cheese and some gruyere). You want just enough to cover the leek mixture but not so much that you get a giant congealed layer. My guess is that 1/2 cup is plenty.
6. Beat five eggs, some whole milk (maybe 1/4-1/4 cup) (or you can use half and half or single cream if you want it richer – but I don’t think it needs that), some spices (I used this great spice mix that some friend of Brian introduced us to a few years ago) and put that in the pie dish. The spice mix I used had salt in it, so if you are making your own spice concoction, don’t forget to add salt. A good alternative to the mix I used is a bit of thyme, basil and garlic powder (with salt).
7. Top this with some sliced tomatoes, a sprinkling of parmesan and fresh ground pepper.
8. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 then lower the oven and bake for about 40 minutes at 325.

Eat for dinner or breakfast. It is rich, but delicious (I promise).