I celebrate St. Pat’s Day every year since it’s been a tradition of my family’s ancestry. After all, most of my mother’s side of the family are Irish and English, and it was punctuated by most of them living in San Francisco, which had a large Irish population at one point in time.
We’d all make corned beef and cabbage, another tradition, though I’m pretty sure that’s not an authentic Irish meal. From what I understand, it’s Americanized from cabbage and bacon. It’s still delicious (my husband adores it), but I like trying different things. Meanwhile, I’ve found something I adapted from a French magazine that might come a little bit closer to traditional—after all, France (also part of my ancestry) is just a few channels across from Ireland, right?
I’m talking about a quiche with cabbage, leeks, and sliced bacon on top. It sounds like heaven to me, and most of the ingredients are what you’d expect on an Irish table, though it may have a bit of a French twist. Actually, it is heaven—very delicious! Maybe we can say it’s a French dish with Irish ingredients. However you want to categorize this, it can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, which makes leftovers a breeze.
Yes, I know—eggs. They’re costly now. I love them and always have, and I justify making something like this by cutting back to eating them for breakfast a couple of times a week instead of nearly every day.
The pastry crust can be made (as I like) with fragrant thyme leaves, or a plain, ready-made crust can be purchased in a pinch. My favorite tried-and-true all-butter pastry recipe is below.
Cabbage Leek Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 single pie crust, homemade or purchased (recipe below)
- 6 eggs
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 shallot, minced
- ½ Tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups green cabbage, sliced thin
- 2 leeks, washed & diced
- 1 cup cooked gold potatoes, sliced
- 4 strips thick-cut bacon
- A small handful of tarragon for garnish
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Roll the pastry out and fit it into the pie or tart pan, folding over the top edge as needed. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and cover with aluminum foil, folding it over the top of the pan. This will help keep the pastry from slumping down the sides, which it is wont to do. Fill the bottom with pie weights and blind bake for 20 minutes. When finished, set aside, keeping the foil on until fully cooled.
Whisk the eggs together with the salt and mustard in a large bowl. Set aside.
Melt the butter and olive oil in a medium pan, then add the shallot, cabbage, leeks, and potatoes. Sauté the veggies for about 5 minutes, until softened, then transfer them to the prepared crust. Pour the egg mixture over it, then lay the bacon over the top. Lastly, arrange the tarragon leaves over all.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and the quiche is firm in the center and golden brown. Makes about 6 servings.
If you’re making the crust, I recommend this recipe.
Basic Butter Pastry Crust
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tbsp thyme leaves, optional
Pie weights are very helpful here.
Blend the butter with the flour using two knives or a pastry blender.
Once the mixture clumps into pieces the size of small peas, add the water and mix until the dough becomes somewhat smooth—don’t over-mix, or it will become tough. Once the dough ingredients are incorporated, remove it from the bowl, roll it into a ball, and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate the dough to chill it again for at least 30 minutes—the butter needs to be kept cold as much as possible.
Once chilled, roll the dough out into a circle the size of your pie or tart pan on a floured surface. Fit the pastry into the pan, gently pushing it into the inner corners in the bottom and crimping on the top edge as needed. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the pastry—make sure it covers the pastry and comes up over the sides of the pan. Press the foil lightly to keep the pastry in place. The pastry always seems to sag down into itself, and the foil helps to keep it in place. Drop the pie weights in. Refrigerate the prepared pastry again for at least 30 minutes.
Once the pastry is chilled, bake at 350º F for 20 minutes. Allow it to cool, then remove the pie weights and foil. It’s now ready to be filled and baked with whichever filling you’re using. If you plan to pre-bake a crust with an unbaked filling, you’ll need to bake it longer, until it’s golden brown.
