Make Ahead

Lemon Pepper and Olive Quiche

by:
February  5, 2011
3.7
3 Ratings
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

Briny olives and tart lemon balanced by rich cheese and eggs ... a great start to the day, or a light lunch or dinner ... - aargersi —aargersi

Test Kitchen Notes

This fluffy quiche is quite tasty. The olive and lemon components play off of each other very nicely and the cheeses provide additional creaminess to the egg base. The pastry comes together very easily in the food processor and yields a flaky, flavorful crust. The pepper gives a spicy note without overpowering the lemon. My cooking time was close to 1.5 hours, but starting with room temperature cheese and eggs would likely reduce the cooking time. Thanks for sharing this recipe, aargersi! I'm saving one to make again when I have guests for breakfast. —KatCooks

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Ingredients
  • Crust
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbs AP flour (plus more for rolling)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • zest from 2 lemons
  • ground pepper
  • ice water
  • Filling
  • 8 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup bourdin cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups mascarpone
  • 1 cup mixed black and green olives, I used kalamata and cerignola
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • wheels from 2 lemons (I used the ones I zested for the crust)
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • ground pepper
Directions
  1. Make the crust - cut the butter up and get it very cold - I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so.
  2. Put the flour and lemon zest and salt in the food processor. Add in the butter and pulse it until it is pebbly. Slowly start pulsing in ice water a little at a time - how much will depend on your flour and location, I used 6 tbs. When the dough just comes together dump it out, form it into a disk and wrap it is platic wrap. Refridgerate for at least 30 minutes (or make a day ahead)
  3. When the dough is chilled, roll it out to fit a 9 inch deep pie plate. I roll between 2 sheets of plastic with a dusting of flour. when the dough is about half rolled, sprinkle it generously with ground pepper (we ground the pepper straight over the dough). Lay the dough in the pie plate, trim the edges and return it to the fridge.
  4. If your olives have pits, pit them and either chop or tear them up. I like the raggedy look of torn olives. Remove the pith from those zested lemons and slice them into wheels - carefully remove any pits.
  5. Heat the oven to 350. Mix the milk and eggs together in a large bowl then mix in the mascarpone and thyme. Crumble in the bourdin by hand, leave it a bit chunky. Then stir in the olives too. Go get the pie crust, put it on a baking sheet (for easy transport and in case of bubble-overs) and pour the mixture in. Now gently lay the lemon wheels on top so they sort of float. Grind more pepper over the whole thing. Into the oven. Bake for an hour, or until the crust is golden and the quiche is not jiggly.
  6. Let the quiche rest - it is best warm or room temperature.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Recipe by: aargersi

Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop

10 Reviews

testkitchenette March 5, 2011
This looks wonderful and I love your preparation of the crust in the food processor!
hardlikearmour March 5, 2011
wow. i don't know how i missed this a few contests ago. sounds amazing!
KatCooks February 19, 2011
I had the chance to review this recipe today.

This fluffy quiche is quite tasty. The olive and lemon components play off of each other very nicely and the cheeses provide additional creaminess to the egg base. The pastry comes together very easily in the food processor and yields a flaky, flavorful crust. The pepper gives a spicy note without overpowering the lemon. My cooking time was close to 1.5 hours, starting with room temperature cheese and eggs would likely reduce the cooking time.

Thanks for sharing this recipe, aargersi! I'm saving one to make again when I have guests for breakfast.
aargersi February 21, 2011
Hey KatCooks I am so glad you liked it! It occured to me that brushing the crust with some milk or egg wash would make it turn a nice color - I will try that last time ...
nannydeb February 10, 2011
Beautiful!
AppleAnnie February 9, 2011
What an inspiration--I'm making my shopping list for this one!!
aargersi February 10, 2011
I hope you like it! It also occured to me that the crust would be even better if it were brushed with a little egg wash or milk to help it brown up!!!
Sagegreen February 5, 2011
Scrumptious!
gingerroot February 5, 2011
This sounds delicious. Love the zest in the crust!
drbabs February 5, 2011
so yummy!