Recipe

Virginia Willis’s Perfect Weekend Brunch Quiche

Featuring homemade French pie pastry and onion confit

Recipe by Virginia Willis

October 8, 2024

Photo: Ellen Silverman

Quiche is not found on many restaurant menus, but it’s undoubtedly a classic recipe. This is a great dish for a weekend brunch and can be made ahead with success. It may not be in fashion at the superfood glow bowl bistro, but folks love it all the same! Cheesy, yummy, eggy goodness encased in rich, golden pastry? What’s not to like? —Virginia Willis, from her recently revised cookbook, Bon Appétit, Y’All.

Read our interview with Willis here.

Ingredients

Vidalia Onion Quiche (Yield: one 10-inch quiche)
For the French pie pastry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. fine sea salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into bits and chilled
- 2 large egg yolks
- 5–6 tbsp. ice water
For the onion confit
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, halved, for the toasts
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 6 onions, preferably Vidalia, chopped (about 1½ lb.)
- ½ tsp. firmly packed dark brown sugar
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, plus small sprigs for garnish
For the quiche
- French pie pastry, blind-baked
- 1½ cups onion confit
- 3 large eggs
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper

Preparation

Make the French pie pastry: To prepare the dough, combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the butter. Process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

Add the egg yolks and pulse to combine. With the processor on pulse, add the ice water one tablespoon at a time. Pulse until the mixture holds together as a soft, but not crumbly or sticky, dough.

Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm and evenly moist, about 30 minutes.

To prepare the dough, lightly flour a clean work surface and rolling pin. Place the dough disk in the center of the floured surface. Roll out the dough, starting in the center and rolling up to, but not over, the top edge of the dough.

Return to the center, and roll down to, but not over, the bottom edge. Give the dough a quarter turn, and continue rolling, repeating the quarter turns until you have a disk about ⅛ inch thick.

Drape the dough over the rolling pin and transfer to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, unrolling over the tin. With one hand lift the pastry and with the other gently tuck it into the pan, being careful not to stretch or pull the dough.

Let the pastry settle into the bottom of the pan. Take a small piece of dough and shape it into a ball. Press the ball of dough around the bottom edges of the tart pan, snugly shaping the pastry to the pan without tearing it. Remove any excess pastry by rolling the pin across the top of the pan.

Prick the bottom of the pastry all over with the tines of a fork to help prevent shrinkage during baking. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

To blind bake, preheat the oven to 425°F. Crumple a piece of parchment paper, then lay it out flat over the bottom of the pastry. Weight the paper with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. This will keep the unfilled pie crust from puffing up in the oven.

Make the onion confit: Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, 15 to 20 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine is reduced and the onions are a deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Add the thyme; taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.

Make the quiche: Prepare the pastry shell and the onion confit; let both cool. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the custard, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, milk, cream, parsley, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Spread the cooled onion confit in the pastry shell. (Note: You will have about ½ cup of the confit left.) Pour the custard over the onions. Bake until the custard is lightly browned and set, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.