By Melissa Clark|French pastries are as much a savory tradition as they are a sweet one, enmeshed in the rhythms of daily life. That is particularly true of the country’s various onion tarts, of which quiche is the most celebrated. This guide is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, the 10 definitive dishes every modern cook should master. Photographs by Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times. Videos by Alexandra Eaton and Shaw Lash.
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Why Master It?
Of all the savory pastries in the French canon, from flaky croissants to cheese-laden gougères, tarts are the ones that are made at home just as frequently as they are ordered in restaurants and picked up at takeout shops. You’ll find tarts served as a starter for dinner, as the focal point of a light lunch or as a main course at weekend brunch. They come in many styles, with much regional variation. Of all the classics, the elegant quiche is the best known.
In its most traditional form, a quiche is composed of a buttery short-crust pastry shell holding a silky egg custard and a savory filling. And although the quiche has gone international, charming its way into North American and British culture, the French are the ones who innovated and then perfected the recipe, particularly the rich, buttery dough called pâte brisée.
Once you master this dough, you will find that quiche becomes dead simple to make. And you can do so with ingredients you may already have: eggs and cream.
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The French treat tarts and quiches as an economical way to use meat or vegetables that are lying around, combining odds and ends into a harmonious result. You will find countless variations in fillings — salmon quiches, eggplant tarts.
But it is the modest onion that often stars in a French tart. Onions are mainstays in French cuisine, flavoring meats and sauces, and soups and stews. But they fare just as well, if not better, on their own, as the main attraction.
Cooked slowly in butter until satiny and soft, onions add flavor and texture to the custard of a classic quiche. Sweet caramelized onions are mixed with anchovies to top the Provençal tart called pissaladière. And minced onions are combined with bacon and fromage blanc (a soft, yogurtlike cheese), then baked pizza-style at high heat, to make a tangy, crunchy tarte flambée, popular in Alsace and the surrounding area. Each tart highlights onions in a different way, and they’re all worth taking the time to get to know.
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A Brief History
Savory open-faced tarts are derived from pies, which were known to have been baked in ancient Egypt and Rome, though the tradition most likely goes back much further.
In those early pies, the crust was merely a vessel for containing the fillings while they slowly baked. The whole pie wasn’t meant to be eaten — just its contents, which could be as simple as ground meat and potatoes, or as elaborate as scores of roasted quail, pheasants, peaco*cks and even whole, stuffed lambs. (Those 4 and 20 blackbirds of nursery rhymes were not that far-fetched.) Across Europe, there were gigantic, ceremonial pies for special occasions, and small, plainer pies meant to be eaten cold, with the pastry standing in for a napkin to catch the juices.
Since pie pastry was not meant to be consumed, it tended to be coarse and unappetizing, though when it was soaked in meat juices after baking, it became palatable enough for the servants. There was even a trade in selling leftover pastry to the poor, who gathered outside castles and estates to wait for crusts to gnaw on.
Open-faced tarts were a Medieval innovation, dating roughly to the 14th century. These new tarts could be made savory or sweet (or sometimes both, in the best Medieval tradition), and they were baked with a more delicate pastry that was meant to be delicious. In France, tarts made with the dough known as pâte brisée were cataloged in La Varenne’s “Le Patissier François” (1653), the first cookbook to codify French pastry arts and much of grand cuisine.
The egg and bacon tart we know today as quiche Lorraine originated in the area of the same name, in northeast France, a region whose culture and cuisine were highly influenced by neighboring Germany. (Quiche itself was most likely derived from German kuchen; that may also be the source of its name.) It dates to the early 19th century, though its myriad variations, including quiche aux oignons, did not become popular around France until the early 20th century.
Then there is tarte flambée (also known as flammekueche), the yeasted tart made with onion, bacon and fromage blanc, which hails from neighboring Alsace. And the south of France is home to yet another famous onion tart: pissaladière, a thin, square, pizzalike dish topped with onions, anchovies, olives and herbs. Its name comes from pissala, an anchovy and sardine purée made from locally caught and salted fish — a briny regional flavor that shines alongside the sweetness of the onions.
Above, “Still Life With a Pie” by Clara Peeters.
Museo Nacional del Prado/Art Resource, NY
Equipment You'll Need
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Quiche or tart pan It’s best to use a 9-inch metal pan with a removable bottom. While you can use a glass or ceramic quiche pan, you won’t be able to remove the quiche from the pan before serving. It’s also smart to place the pan on a baking sheet before it goes into the oven. This helps distribute the heat, which cooks the quiche evenly, and it eliminates the chance the pan will leak in your oven.
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Food processor Dough comes together quickly in a food processor, but take care not to overprocess it. A pastry cutter is inexpensive and works well, too; some people prefer it because using one makes it much harder to overwork the dough. If you don’t have either, use your fingers to work the butter into the dough.
Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best food processors.
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Rolling pin French rolling pins tend to be made of one solid, smooth piece of wood, and often have tapered ends. But you can use any kind of rolling pin you’ve got — or even a wine bottle in a pinch.
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Pie weights Empty tart crusts are often prebaked (a process known as blind baking) before they are filled and returned to the oven to finish. This gives you a browned crust that won’t get soggy. Weights keep the dough from shrinking as it bakes. If you don’t have them, use rice, dried beans or pennies (rinse in soapy water and dry them first).
Onion Quiche
- Yield 8 servings
Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times
Tender, sweet bits of onion suffuse this classic, savory tart, which gets its brawny, salty tang from browned chunks of cured pork (lardons, pancetta or bacon), all bound with a nutmeg-flecked custard. It’s a dish that feels both delicate and rich, and makes a lovely lunch or brunch dish. You can make the dough up to 3 days ahead, and prebake the crust a day ahead. But the quiche is best served warm or at room temperature on the day you assembled and baked it. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
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French, Bacon, Gruyere, Heavy Cream, Pancetta, Quiche, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Main Course, Spring, Summer, Easter, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 cups/250 grams all-purpose flour, more as needed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), cold, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
- Scant 1/2 cup ice water, or as needed
For the filling:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 ½ pounds onions (about 6 to 8 large), finely chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ounces lardons, diced pancetta or bacon (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 ounces Gruyère, shredded (about 1/2 cup)
Preparation
- Make the tart dough: In a food processor, pulse flour, salt and sugar to combine. Add butter, then pulse until lima-bean-size pieces form. Gradually drizzle water into mixture and pulse just to combine, adding more water by the tablespoon if dough doesn’t come together. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Press it together into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. (If you don’t have a food processor, see Tip below.)
- While dough chills, cook the onions for the filling: In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter and oil. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden and liquid has been cooked off, about 1 hour. (If the onions start to get too dark, reduce the heat to low.) Stir in flour and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Butter a 9-inch tart pan. Take chilled dough out of plastic wrap and place on a floured surface. Roll dough into an 11-inch circle, drape over it over tart pan and press into bottom edges and down sides. Use a knife or rolling pin to cut off excess dough, then use your fingers to push dough 1/4-inch up past the edge of pan. Use a fork to poke evenly spaced holes in the bottom and sides of the dough and chill for 30 minutes.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chilled tart on a baking sheet. Line with foil, fill with pie weights and bake for 15 minutes. Remove tart from oven and carefully remove foil and pie weights. Return tart to oven to continue baking, uncovered, until dough is just baked through and barely turning golden on the edges, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
- Prepare lardons: Heat a medium, dry skillet over medium heat, then add lardons and cook until they start to brown, about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fold in onions, then half the Gruyère. Cube remaining 1 tablespoon butter into pea-size pieces.
- Scatter cooked lardons over parbaked tart shell. Scrape egg and onion mixture into shell, smoothing top, and then scatter remaining Gruyère on top. Dot with butter pieces, then bake in a 375-degree oven until puffed and browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove tart ring from pan and slide quiche onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tip
- To prepare the dough without a food processor, use a pastry cutter or a knife and fork to cut butter into flour mixture. Stir in water until dough just comes together into a ball. Cut dough into 4 pieces, and use the heel of your hand to smear one piece away from you on the work surface so it spreads about 6 inches. Gather that piece, place it to the side and repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Press to combine all the smeared pieces into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill.
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Techniques and Tips
The secrets to a successful onion quiche: a flaky butter crust and perfectly pale, tender onions in the custard filling.
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Making the Dough
• High-fat European-style butter produces the flakiest crust. If you can find it, it’s worth the extra cost.
• Always make sure that the butter is cold when you start, and that the dough stays cold as you work with it. If it starts to soften at any time, put it in the refrigerator to firm up.
• When you cut the butter into the flour, either by hand or by using the food processor, you want lima-bean-size pieces of butter. These big pieces of butter will make the dough flaky; as they melt in the oven, they release steam, which creates air pockets. These air pockets are the flakes that make a light and crisp crust. (This is also why you want to keep the butter cold as you work with the dough. It ensures that the butter won’t melt into the flour as you blend it, but will stay in distinct pieces.)
• As you roll the dough, keep it moving around on your countertop, flipping it over and adding more flour if it starts to stick. By flipping and moving it around as you roll, you avoid rolling it into your countertop and having to add too much flour. (Too much flour can make the dough dry and tough.)
• Chill the dough after you roll it out and fit it into the pan. This firms it up before baking, which helps prevent the dough from shrinking too much in the oven’s heat.
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Preparing the Onions
• Choose large white or Spanish onions with high water content and some bite. Avoid sweet onions such as Vidalias, which could make the tart cloying.
• The onions are cooked slowly and gently, so they don’t take on too much color. Make sure to use enough butter and oil to cover the bottom of the pan before you add the onions. You need to smother your onions in the fat so they remain pale and turn very soft. An hour may sound like a long time, but low and slow is the best way to go here.
• If the onions start to brown, turn down the heat a little, from medium to medium-low. Stir them around often, and scrape up any lightly browned bits on the bottom or sides of the pan so the browning doesn’t spread. It is fine if there is a little browning, but you don’t want too much. If browning is an issue, keep the heat low and increase the cooking time. Low and slow will keep browning at bay.
• Adding a tablespoon or two of flour to the onions helps thicken the quiche filling, and it also reduces sogginess after baking. Sprinkle flour over the onions at least 5 minutes before they are done cooking, so the raw flavor in the flour will be cooked out.
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Baking and Serving
• In an ideal world, you would serve your quiche within an hour of baking, while it’s still warm from the oven. But you can assemble and bake within six hours of serving.
• Always let the quiche cool for at least 20 minutes on a wire rack (which lets air circulate around the pan) before trying to remove from the pan. This is both to avoid burning yourself, and to allow the pastry to set, so it’s more stable and less likely to break.
• The dough and onions can be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled. You can even prebake the crust the day before; keep it at room temperature, covered.
• Don’t refrigerate your quiche if you can avoid it. It leads to soggy pastry.
• If you want to reheat a room-temperature quiche before serving, place it, uncovered, in a 300-degree oven and let it warm up for 10 to 20 minutes. (If it has been in the refrigerator, add another 10 minutes or so.)
Variations: Quiche Fillings
Feel free to play with fillings and flavors, swapping in ingredients as you like. Just be sure to keep the custard ratios the same: 1 egg to 1/3 cup heavy cream.
- Cheese
- Smoked Fish
- Vegetables
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Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs to the onion quiche recipe above to give it freshness and verve. Basil, thyme, cilantro, chervil and chives work nicely. You could also add 1/4 cup chopped pitted black or green olives, either in place of the herbs or in addition to them.
Herbs & Olives
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Substitute other cheese for the Gruyère, including Cheddar, blue cheese, feta, manchego, gouda or firm goat cheese. Or you could eliminate the cheese entirely if you prefer.
Cheese
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Skip the bacon or pancetta and add 1 to 2 ounces smoked fish to the quiche instead. You don’t need to brown the fish first; just dice it and add scatter over the prebaked crust in place of the lardons. Smoked salmon, white fish and trout are all great options.
Smoked Fish
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Substitute 1 1/2 to 2 cups of other cooked vegetables for the onions. Good candidates include sautéed spinach or chard; roasted or sautéed mushrooms, eggplant or zucchini; or roasted tomatoes or butternut squash.
Vegetables
Tarte Flambée
Recipe from
Adapted by
Recipe from
Adapted by
- Yield 8 servings
Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times
Traditionally, this onion and bacon tart was a baker’s treat made from dough scraps leftover from bread baking. The scraps were rolled out, topped with raw onion, bacon and fromage blanc (a soft, yogurtlike cheese) and baked until the dough puffed and the onions singed at the edges. Now you’re as likely to find this savory tart at a restaurant or coming straight from someone’s kitchen as at a bakery. This version, adapted from the chef Gabriel Kreuther, uses a biscuitlike crust made with baking powder instead of the usual yeasted dough. Since you don’t have to let the dough rise, you can have a tarte flambée on the table in under 45 minutes. Serve this as an appetizer, a light main course, or for an unusual brunch offering. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master. —Melissa Clark
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French, Bacon, Creme Fraiche, Fromage Blanc, Onion, Tart, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Appetizer, Main Course, Valentine’s Day
Ingredients
- ¼ cup crème fraîche
- ⅓ cup fromage blanc
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅞ cup/110 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 strips/100 grams thick-cut smoked bacon, finely diced (about 2/3 cup)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped white onion
Preparation
- If you have a pizza stone, place it on the middle rack of your oven, top with a baking sheet, and heat the oven to 425 degrees. (If you don’t have a stone, just place the baking sheet on the oven rack).
- In a medium bowl, combine crème fraîche, fromage blanc, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Set aside while you make the dough.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking powder and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a small bowl, whisk to combine olive oil, egg yolk and 1/4 cup water. Add to dry ingredients and use a fork to combine until it creates a shaggy dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute, until the dough is uniform and elastic. (Flour your hands as necessary to keep the dough from sticking.) Roll out to a 12-inch round, then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet without a rim (or use an overturned rimmed baking pan).
- Spread fromage blanc mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the edges. Sprinkle bacon and onions over fromage blanc. Slide tart, still on parchment paper, off baking sheet and directly onto baking sheet in oven.
- Bake until top is beginning to brown, and sides are golden and crispy, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and slide off parchment paper to serving platter. Serve warm.
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Pissaladière
- Yield 8 servings
Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times
Sweet, caramelized onions, briny anchovies and olives make the up the topping for this traditional Provençal tart. This version calls for a yeasted dough, which makes the tart somewhat like a pizza. But puff pastry, which Julia Child preferred, is also traditional, and quite a bit richer. If you’d rather use that, substitute a 12- to 16-ounce package for the yeast dough, and bake the tart at 375 degrees until the bottom and sides are golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Pissaladière makes great picnic fare, in addition to being a terrific appetizer or lunch dish. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
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Ingredients
For the filling:
- 18 anchovy fillets, or to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 pounds/about 1.4 kilograms onions, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, grated on a Microplane or minced
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup Niçoise olives, pitted or not, or to taste
For the dough:
- 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ⅔ cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups/250 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
Preparation
- Make the filling: Finely chop 2 of the anchovy fillets. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, thyme and chopped anchovy, then cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in salt, and continue cooking for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be pale golden and very soft; lower the heat if they start to turn dark brown at the edges or stick to the skillet. Use your judgment on timing: Look to the color of the onions to tell you when they’re done. Remove from heat and cool completely before using.
- Meanwhile, make the dough: In a medium bowl, sprinkle dry yeast over warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes, then add oil. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt, then stir in yeast mixture with a wooden spoon until combined. Turn bowl's contents out onto a floured surface and knead until uniform and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes. (Flour your hands if necessary to keep dough from sticking.) Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, flip the dough over, cover bowl with a damp cloth and let rest in a draft-free place for 1 hour.
- Lightly oil an 11x17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Working on a floured surface, roll dough into an 11x16-inch rectangle, then transfer it to the oiled baking sheet and press the dough to the sides. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread cooked onions evenly over dough, and top with remaining anchovies and olives. Bake until edges and underside are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Collection
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Photography
Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman.
Video
Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
