I’ve been wanting an excuse to make this egg and bacon pie for ages, ever since I came home one day to a parcel at my door step – a shiny new deep quiche pan which had come all the way from France; a gift from Mim on my birthday! So when good friends of ours, John and Bel came over to Wagga for lunch last week, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to throw this quiche together. It’s the ultimate lunch time meal, teamed up with a green leafy salad and loaf of crusty bread, it’s a family recipe that I know you’ll love.
Bacon and egg pie, Quiche Lorraine, whatever you want to call it, is so good. It’s home cooking at it’s best. A handwritten recipe that was originally my Aunty Jen’s, passed on to me by Mim – has been a family favourite for decades. I know you can make this with store bought shortcrust pastry or puff pastry instead, but there’s something really satisfying about making it from scratch. You’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment, a domestic goddess even.
I’ve followed the recipe pretty much to the tee, changing it a little by replacing the ‘ounces’ with ‘grams’ for the modern cook. I’ve also included variations in the ‘Lo’s tips’ section below. It’s such a versatile recipe and once you get the hang of making the shortcrust pastry shell, it really is all too easy to pop in the oven for a Sunday lunch or midweek dinner.
The smell of bacon and onion cooking fills the house, reminding me of ‘mini quiche production lines’ at Tomalong; cooking for endless parties over the years with my sisters. The recipe is so good – it tastes just like the store-bought quiche we used to buy from the bakery at Dural, back in the day where there was still a video shop next door.
And with today marking 100 years since the end of WWI and chatting to Nee over a cuppa in Boorowa, we’re sharing yarns about our ancestors’ during both world wars. It’s got me feeling all nostalgic. And as with so many memories that I have involving times spent with family, they often involve food. Good, simple, home cooked food; that’s comforting and delicious, can easily feed a crowd and leaves you wanting more.
Another oldie but a goodie. Give it a try.
egg + bacon pie
for the short crust pastry
125 grams of self raising flour
125 grams of plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
125 grams of butter, cubed
4 x tablespoons of water
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
for the filling
1 x large brown onion, finely chopped
200 grams of bacon, diced
1 x small clove of garlic, crushed
4 x eggs
1 x cup of milk
1/2 cup of thickened cream
125 grams of cheddar cheese, grated
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A sprinkling of dried parsley
A sprinkling of ground nutmeg
Salt and white pepper
Canola oil spray, for greasing the pan
A dash of olive oil
- Preheat the oven to 200℃.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sifted self raising and plain flours and salt.
- Add the cubed butter and start to incorporate together using your fingertips, until it starts to resemble a breadcrumb like mixture. Add the water and lemon juice to help you form a dough. Knead lightly.
- Spray the springform quiche pan with canola oil spray and using your fingers, press the pastry in to the pan around the base and sides. Prick the base with a fork.
- Bake the pastry case in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, to make the filling – add a dash of olive oil to a large frying pan and sauté the bacon and onion until cooked. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, milk, cream, cheese, cayenne pepper, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add the bacon and onion mixture and stir well.
- Then simply pour the mixture in to the pastry shell, turn the oven down to 180℃ and bake for 45 minutes or so, until cooked and browned on top.
- Let the quiche cool slightly in the pan before taking out to serve.
Serve with a green salad and some crusty bread.
Lo’s tips
- A 9” deep quiche tin works perfectly for this recipe.
- You can substitute the bacon for a 415 gram tin of red salmon with 1/2 a teaspoon of dried tarragon.
- Aunty Jen’s recipe said to add a tin of creamed corn.
- You can also add sautéed mushrooms to this recipe.
- When making the pastry just use the tips of your fingers to work in the butter until you have a breadcrumb like texture.
If you make this egg and bacon pie, please leave your comments below. xx
lo's kitchen 
Making it now! Looks delish lo as always. Good inspo after a swimming carnival 👍🏼
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Oh fingers crossed it goes well Loz xx
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I tried this recipe today and it was a hit! We used pepato instead of cheddar (a hard cheese quite similar to parmesan with peppercorns through it). The cheese certainly made for a very flavoursome pie, but it balanced out well with a green salad. It was fun to make our own pastry too; even if it did look a bit funny because we forgot to put the fork marks in it! I thought the pastry was a bit wet and difficult to spread into the tin, however it was much easier after sprinkling some extra flour over it. Thanks for another fail-safe recipe Lo!
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Oh that sounds delicious. I’ve never tried pepato before. Im glad the extra flour helped too. Thanks for sharing!
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Made this for dinner for friends on a Monday night and it was such a hit I made another one on Tuesday to have for lunches. Easy and delicious, thanks Lo
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Yum! That’s exactly what I feel like now. Thanks for the inspo!
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Have had this a few times recently and loved by all. You even inspired me to make pastry which makes it taste so good and even makes it look a little bit fancy! Making it for lunchboxes too. Love your story about your quiche pan from France. What a great gift!
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Oh I’m so glad that you like this. It’s yum isn’t it!? And making your own pastry really gives you that sense of achievement doesn’t it. Domestic goddess status! 😂 Thanks for sharing. X
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