Caramelized Onion Quiche

This is a typical quiche lorraine, but in stead of the bacon or ham there's a whole bunch of onions cooked down into a sweet onion-y jam. You can go all out making the pie dough from scratch if you want, or use a pre-made pie crust. While I got this from the fairly generic Simply Recipes, it's a real favorite of mine.

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pie dough (pâte brisée, or other savory dough preferred)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2-3 large red onions (~1 lbs. total), french-cut
• 6 oz gruyère cheese, grated (roughly 1½ C)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ C milk
• ½ C heavy cream
• 3 large eggs
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning

Steps

The onions will take about an hour to fully caramelize, so if you are making everything at once you might want to start the onions while the pie dough is chilling.

Blind baking crust

1. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to a rough 12-inch circle. Carefully place into a 9 inch tart or pie pan, making sure to lightly press dough into the corners. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Take pan with dough out and place parchment paper over top of the dough (or use aluminum foil). Fill crust half way with baking weights (dried beans, rice, ball bearings, etc). Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Remove and let cool for a few minutes. Carefully remove baking weights and lining. Dock bottom of the dough with a fork, continue baking for 10 minutes.
4. Let cool on cooling rack while preparing the filling.

Preparing filling

1. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pan over medium heat.
2. Add cut onions to the pan and sprinkle with salt, letting them sweat stirring occasionally.
3. After about 10 minutes, once the onions have softened and become slightly translucent reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking onions, stirring occasionally, for an additional 40 minutes until well browned. (Be careful to not let them burn!)
4. Add balsamc vinegar and cook an additional 5-10 minutes, remove from heat.
5. Once the dough is cooled and ready move to a baking sheet (to catch any run off of boil over).
6. Sprinkle half of the cheese on the bottom of the pie crust, spread onions over the cheese then top with the remaining cheese.
7. In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, cream, and eggs. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
8. Pour cream and egg mixture into the pie dish.
9. Transfer to oven, center rack, and bake until just set 30-35 minutes.
10. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.