24 February 2009

Quiche. With tons of leeks.

04_ready
In winter in Germany, you often get to buy leeks in 1 kg bundles. It was cheap, but I only needed one leek for a stir-fry. Every time I opened the fridge I was wondering: "What the hell should I do with all those leeks?!?" Then I remembered the Swiss cheesecake my mom used to make - it has tons of onions in it and I thought I should try and substitute the onions with leeks. It was a full success!

Though I really liked the dense leek flavor, but somehow missed the sweetness of the onions. I guess I will make it 50/50 the next time.

By the way, this is NOT suitable for people trying to loose weight! There's tons of cheese, eggs and bacon... On the other hand, it's quite low on carbs, if that is your thing.

The cake is easiest to cut on the next day (like any cheesecake), but I like it piping hot and straight from the oven.



SAVORY CHEESECAKE / QUICHE

makes one pie with 28 cm in diameter, ca. 5 cm height

1 package flaky pastry (or savory pie crust)
5-6 leeks, cut into rings (original: 4-5 onions, diced)
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
5-6 eggs
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1-2 tsp caraway seeds
200 g cream
200 g sour cream
200 g cream cheese
400 g Gouda cheese, grated
400 g Emmental cheese, grated
100 g Parmesan cheese, grated
400 g lardons/bacon, diced

Butter and flour a pie springform pan, line the bottom and the sides with the flaky pastry and punch some hole in the bottom. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

01_leeks_in-pan
Heat up a pan, melt the butter and throw in all the diced onions (you can also cut them up into rings half rings or whatever you like. Just don't make the bits too small). Add a little bit of sugar and sauté the onions for a couple of minutes. Don't let them get too soft, you want the translucent with some brown bits, but also some bite to them. Let it all cool down.

02_mixture
Put the eggs in your mixer (whisk attachment) and beat until fluffy. Add the spices, then turn the speed down and add the cream, the sour cream and the cream cheese SLOWLY. Otherwise, you'll get a terrible mess. Continue mixing until you have a smooth, thick liquid without any cream cheese bits left, then remove the whisk and change to the hook (or don't and use a large wooden spoon and your hands instead). Again, on low speed, gradually add the cheese bits, the bacon cubes and the leeks/onions. Check that the leeks/onions have cooled down, so the eggs won't curdle if you stir it into the mixture.

03_pan
Pour it into your pie dish, flatten the mixture a bit and put it into the preheated oven (180°C) for about an hour.

05_eat
Yes, the top NEEDS to get brown, that's what makes it so tasty. Just be sure it won't turn black. Cut it up immediately for a hot, gooey and messy (but heartwarming) dinner, maybe with a nice green salad. Or let it cool down and you have great lunch for work (either cold or heated in the microwave).

3 comments:

  1. Ich glaube, davon wird man ganz schön satt. :-) Sicher eine gute Grundlage mit viel Geschmack.

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  2. Oh I like it! Similar ingredients to mine like you said but very unique! It looks so yummy and moist; I guess its the cheese that does that. I will try this out next time I make a savory pie. Thanks!

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  3. This looks exceptional! I don't know that I can wait for my leeks to be harvested, I may have to try this with sweet Walla Walla onions.

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