Leek, Lemon, and Feta Quiche
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Author Notes: While a leek quiche seems indisputably French, this recipe brings a Hellenic “Opa!” to your table with the addition of lemon, feta, and a hint of ouzo, the classic Greek aperitif. The ouzo is optional, but highly recommended. In a small dose, it brings a subtle sweet anise flavor that balances the sharp saltiness of the feta. With a fresh grating of lemon zest to brighten everything up, this quiche becomes light and cheerful, not at all heavy as some quiches can be. It’s perfect for a casual celebration meal, a Sunday brunch, or lunch to go. If you’re cooking just for one, make individual-size quiches and freeze some for later; you’ll be glad to have them on hand. Variation for Omnivores: You may want to dice 1 package of Canadian bacon (about 8 slices) and add it to the quiche at the same time as the sauteed leeks. I’ve tried it this way, too, and it’s just as nice. - Allison Cay Parker
Food52 Review: Feeding the Saints aptly describes these individual little quiches as "light and cheerful." We love the delicate flavor of leeks, and crisp, airy puff pastry is a nice change from a more traditional short crust; lemon zest and ouzo lend just the right mix of lift and fragrance. We especially love the slabs of feta that, instead of being crumbled into the egg mixture, are laid gently across the top of each quiche before baking. Chilling the quiches for about twenty minutes before baking will help the pastry puff nicely and get nice and crisp. - A&M - A&M
Serves 1 large quiche or 4 individual-size quiches
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
- 1 pound leeks
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons ouzo (optional)
- 2-1/2 ounces feta cheese, cut into 4 (approx 1/2-inch) slices
- Preheat oven to 375F. Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.
- Prepare the leeks. Rise off any visible dirt and slice the roots from the end. Remove the dark green tops, leaving a couple inches of light green with the white portion of the leeks. (The dark trimmings can be reserved for another use, adding them to a vegetable or chicken stock, for example.) Halve the leeks lengthwise, then cut crosswise in 1/2-inch slices. Dump the slices in a colander or salad spinner and rinse thoroughly; if you don’t, you risk having a gritty, sandy quiche, as leeks often hide dirt deep in their layers. Let the leeks drain well, or spin dry.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the leeks and cook until they are wilted; don’t cook them so much that they give off liquid. Turn off the heat and let sit.
- In a mixing bowl or large measuring cup, using a whisk or fork, beat together the half-and-half, eggs, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Add the ouzo, if using.
- Prepare the pastry crusts. On a lightly floured surface, or between two layers of plastic wrap or parchment paper, roll out the thawed puff pastry to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Line a shallow pie plate or cut the pastry into four circles to fill individual baking dishes. Press the pastry up the sides to make a nice edge.
- Fill the quiches. Distribute the leeks evenly across the bottom of the dish(es). Pour the milk mixture over the leeks. Top the quiche(s) with the slices of feta. (If you have feta that crumbles apart, don’t worry, just sprinkle it on top.)
- Bake 30-40 minutes, depending on size of the quiche(s). The center should be solid and the crust and top nicely browned. Let the quiche cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. The quiches taste great hot, room temperature, even cold.
- Enjoy with a simple green salad and a glass of chilled assyrtiko from award-winning Domaine Sigalas (Santorini).
- This recipe is a Wildcard Contest Winner!
Tags: freezes well, french, greek, picnic, quiche, savory, travels well
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about 1 hour ago Eat Already!
Beautiful stuff. I love leeks, and I love Feta. Is there anything that can be used to substitute or emulate ouzo?
27 days ago Dagir
Can this be baked the night before and reheated the next morning? Thanks.
27 days ago Allison Cay Parker
I have refrigerated leftovers and reheated, so I'm sure that's fine. It still tasted great the next day. Or, if you have the time for morning baking (just not the prep work), you can follow the pre-baking steps for the quiche, refrigerate overnight, and bake off in the morning.
3 months ago Alex Gabriel
This is an excellent recipe. Except for using 1 tbsp of crushed anise seed instead of ouzo and incorporating a bit of homemade kefir cheese, I pretty much followed the recipe. I used muffin tins but had extras so shaped them into triangular turnovers which were also delicious!
7 months ago Kookla
This sounds wonderful! I don't have any ouzo or other anise liquor at the moment, so I think I'll add some crushed anise seeds for that extra flavor. I'll let you know how that works!
7 months ago Allison Cay Parker
Yes, please. I'd love to know how that works out. Thanks for trying the recipe and taking the time to leave your comment.
10 months ago yentl1
Not only is this a suburb dish, it's fun to make. The puff pastry dramatically rises and made me look like a gourmet chef. Oh, my, was it tasty! Worth the calories.
10 months ago Allison Cay Parker
I'm so glad you had a good experience with the quiche. I'm all for dishes that are easy to make and make you look good at the same time. Thanks for taking the time to make my recipe and to leave a comment.
about 1 year ago ColoradoCook
These were lovely! Since I didn't have individually sized quiche dishes, I actually just threw them into a muffin tin. The puff pastry crisped up beautifully, and they popped right out - perfect for an evening picnic. I didn't have ouzo on hand (beyond expensive here in Singapore), so added a little dry white wine to the leeks as they were softening. Superb, and thanks for adding new inspiration to a familiar dish!
12 months ago Allison Cay Parker
Thanks for trying the recipe and for leaving a comment. Muffin-tin versions of the quiche sound like a great idea... especially for an evening picnic as you say. The substitution of a splash of dry white wine is a good idea. I'm thrilled that the recipe is making its way around the world. (If I have no hope of visiting Singapore soon, at least my recipe is traveling!) Thanks again to you. ~ Allison
over 1 year ago lyonesset
I really enjoyed this dish - and I feel the Ouzo is essential! Luckily it is my partner's favourite spirit so it's always in the house. I didn't have enough leeks so I used some brown onion and some capsicum, sliced finely. Added to the colour of the dish and didn't really push the flavour away from what I think was intended. I also made up the various bits of the mixture in advance so I could assemble and put in the oven when I came home late from work. Thanks for the recipe!
over 1 year ago Allison Cay Parker
Hey, Lyonesset. Thanks for trying the recipe and taking the time to comment. I'm with you: wouldn't dream of avoiding the shot of ouzo, but I understand people who wouldn't want to do it--especially if you have to buy a whole bottle just for this. One of the things you point out is key, though: the fact that this is a pretty friendly recipe for busy people, since you can do a lot in advance.
I'm curious about the capsicum. I assume you mean "bell" pepper... did you use red or green? I'm a huge fan of roasted red peppers, and I frequently slap some pepper slices in aluminum foil, sprinkle feta on top and broil. So, I could imagine red pepper being a nice variation. Thanks for the idea to use it in the quiche.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
over 1 year ago aligthang
Made this last night (from the cookbook) and it was great. Ate a leftover slice for lunch today with a bit of roasted-red-pepper sriracha sauce which played nicely off the bright and fresh flavors of the quiche: http://epifurious.tumblr...
over 1 year ago Allison Cay Parker
Hmm, Sriracha... never would have thought of that; sounds like a good thing to do on Day 2. Thanks for taking the time to comment and write up a post. (You can thank your boyfriend for the the thumbs up, too)!
over 1 year ago susan_johnson
This was really excellent. I used the recipe almost exactly as written (which never happens!), except that I used 6 eggs instead of 3, because I know that a 6-egg quiche fills my standard pyrex 9" pie dish perfectly. I did use ouzo, which i happened to have in the house, and I feel like it really added a fantastic flavor. Could be because the ouzo is over 20 years old. Ew. Anyway, thank you for the recipe! It was delicious!
over 1 year ago Allison Cay Parker
Thanks, Susan! Glad you liked the recipe--and almost exactly as written, that's high praise indeed. :) Does ouzo get better with age? Hmm. As is said in Greece "Stin yia sas!" (To your health, or "Cheers!")
over 1 year ago Kathy Cooks
This was delicious! Couldn't find leeks in our mountain town in January so substituted sweet green onions big ones... and added some fennel about 1 teaspoon...this wasn't quite enough. I would use 1 Tablespoon next time but such a lovely recipe. Thanks so much...next time I will add Ouzo too!
over 1 year ago Allison Cay Parker
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your commenting. I think the sweet green onion substitution is a great idea. As is the fennel--since I realize that a lot of people probably don't keep ouzo (or pastis) on hand. So glad that you enjoyed it. Happy new year to you.
over 1 year ago Umami
This was delicious! I made it for a Boxing Day brunch and everyone loved it. I didn't have ouzo so added a bit of roasted fennel for the aniseed flavour. I think the lemon zest and using half & half instead of whole milk really makes the difference.
over 1 year ago Allison Cay Parker
So glad you enjoyed this. Boxing Day is a great tradition, by the way. Roasted fennel sounds lovely, too. Thanks for trying the recipe and taking time to write back about it. Cheers, and hope you have a happy and delicious new year.
over 1 year ago Jain Silver
Loved the tart - I made it in a single french tart pan and let the top of the feta brown ever so slightly. Delicious! Love the custard base - the texture really is quite special. Am going to have fun coming up with variations on the theme :)
over 1 year ago Allison Cay Parker
So glad you tried and loved the quiche! Thanks for taking the time to make the recipe and to leave a comment. I'd love to hear about any new variations you come up with, too. Cheers! ~ Allison
almost 2 years ago tail.feathers
Excellent recipe. I had four 4" tart pans (w/ removable bottoms) and had filling left over that could have filled a fifth. Even had left over puff pastry that I could have pressed into the fifth one had I had one. I added some thyme to the custard too.
almost 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
Thank you! So glad you like the recipe and felt inspired to give it your own twist with the thyme. I guess my individual ceramic baking dishes are deeper than yours. Did you need to adjust the baking time at all? Thanks again for taking the time to make the recipe and comment here.
almost 2 years ago tail.feathers
Excellent recipe. I had four 4" tart pans (w/ removable bottoms) and had filling left over that could have filled a fifth. Even had left over puff pastry that I could have pressed into the fifth one had I had one. I added some thyme to the custard too.
almost 2 years ago J-Dizzle
Yummmm, this sounds delicious....going to make it on the weekend; and may even attempt to make the crust myself! Thanks for sharing!! :o)
almost 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
Thanks for investing in the time to comment and--more importantly--try the recipe! Hope you enjoy it.
almost 2 years ago phyllisc
Sounds wonderful! Would you freeze the tart before or after baking?
almost 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
Thanks, phyllisc. Good question. You know, I think you could do it either way, but I have always had good luck baking and then freezing. It's lovely to know that later, when you're in a pinch for lunch or dinner, all you need to do is re-heat. If you try it the other way, let me know how it turns out.
almost 2 years ago PlainCheesecake
I have made this dish twice now and love, love, love the freshness of it. It bakes up nicely in my large tart pan (removable bottom) and the puff pastry is flaky and matches the quiche in its lightness.
almost 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
So glad you've had repeated success. Thanks for taking the time to let me (and others) know. I really appreciate it.
about 2 years ago dancerslikefood
My first food52 recipe and boy was it tasty! I've made a lot of quiches, but I really liked the texture of this one (not sure what made the difference - maybe the half and half). I added canadian bacon per your recommendation (and left out the ouzo) and it balanced the lemon and feta flavor quite nicely. I was a little worried it'd overpower the other flavors, but it didn't. I also had never used puff pastry as a quiche crust, but it had a nice texture. I unfortunately had crumbled feta on hand and I must say that my favorite bites were the ones that had a larger chunk of feta, so I'll definitely cut the feta into large chunks next time. Thank you for sharing!
about 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
Oh, you have no idea how happy I am that your Food52 experience started here and that it was a success. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know! ~ Allison
about 2 years ago Pamela's Kitchen
I had this recipe's picture up at work yesterday, and every single person who saw it stopped in awe of its deliciousness :) Well done!
Regarding the cream ~ I would subsitute fat free half and half fearing the greek yogurt may interfere with the feta punch of flavor.
about 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
Hey, thanks so much for letting me know how well received the recipe is in your workplace. Your comment/compliment made my day! Meanwhile, forgive my shock and ignorance, but I had no idea there was such a thing as fat-free half and half... how can cream not contain fat?!
about 2 years ago despinacosto
Thank you! Has anyone tried substituting the half and half with Greek yogurt?
about 2 years ago Allison Cay Parker
Hmm... now that's an interesting idea. I'd be worried that substituting all of it would change the consistency too much. If the cream in half and half is what puts you off, you can switch to milk, and then maybe just start by trying to substitute half the quantity of milk with yogurt? I tend to be a full-fat, no concessions kind of cook, but love it when other people want to adapt my recipes. If you do decide to play around with yogurt, I'd love to hear how it comes out! Thanks so much for stopping by.