[angiecita]

I intend to make a Spinach and Gruyere Quiche, but I chose to buy frozen puff pastry to make the shell since I've never made dough before!

Do I need to blind bake the puff pastry BEFORE filling with the egg mixture?
If so, how long?

If not, will using a different dough change the cook time? More or less?

Oh no... I think I'm going to need to learn how to make dough very soon!

[ChrisLehrer]

If you've never made any sort of dough before, puff pastry is NOT the place to start. It's pretty finicky and takes quite a while.

As to blind-baking, I'd think it would depend a good deal on how wet your quiche filling is. Unbaked puff pastry is flat and thin: if you poured liquid quiche base on it, it would run all over the table. Or am I misunderstanding the question?

[PeteMcCracken]

If you are using "puff pastry", you will have to "dock" it (that's a fancy word for punching holes in it) so that it does NOT rise like puff pastry.

For your first tries, plain old pie dough would be better.

Yes, I "blind bake" my quiche shells, dock the pastry, line with buttered parchment or foil, filled with beans or rice, bake for 10-15 minutes at 375°F, remove the parchment/foil and beans, and return to the oven for 3-5 minutes, then pour your filling in and bake until done, probably 25-35 minutes.

[Koukouvagia]

Although puff pastry is delicious I wouldn't necessarily use it for a quiche although it's not unheard of.

Here is a really simple recipe for a savoury crust I got from Jamie Oliver. It's not at all fussy and you can use a food processor to make it.

-500 grams unbleached flour sifted
-250 grams vegetable shortening
-finely chopped herbs such as dill, parsley, chives (optional)
-2 organic eggs
-splash of milk

1. sift the flour
2. combine flour and shortening in the food processory
3. In a seperate bowl whisk the herbs, eggs, and milk, and add to the food processor
4. put on a floured surface and press it together - do not knead the dough!
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours before using.

In this case after I chill it I would blind bake it and let it cool before I added the egg mixture. Good luck, it's not as hard as you think.

[DC Sunshine]

If you've got the puff pastry and intend to use it, "dock" it very thouroughly using a fork, even around the sides, then bake for 10 minutes if you don't want the fuss of blind baking (although that is not all that much trouble). Anywhere you don't dock it, the pastry will rise.

I've used it before for a quiche, but if using reasy made frozen stuff, I do prefer the savoury short crust pastry.

Koukou's recipe sounds almost too easy now I think I gotta try that one. But yes, let it cool first. It can also be an idea to seal it by brushing with a lightly beaten egg white after the blind bake, then back in the oven for 5 mins, then cool it down before filling. This makes sure it seals the pastry so no quiche mix leaks thru. And just to be sure, place the quiche tray on a baking tray in the oven in case there are any leaks. Then follow what Pete said to cook the quiche.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Originally Posted by angiecita

I intend to make a Spinach and Gruyere Quiche, but I chose to buy frozen puff pastry to make the shell since I've never made dough before!

Do I need to blind bake the puff pastry BEFORE filling with the egg mixture?
If so, how long?

If not, will using a different dough change the cook time? More or less?

Oh no... I think I'm going to need to learn how to make dough very soon!

The original quiche does not use puff paste. It uses a pie dough or tartlet dough which you can also buy already made, and its cheaper. Puff paste is to greasy for this , in particular the sheets that are already done as they are not made using butter. A lot of places do the same thing for pot pies. This is the American shortcut , but not authentic or as I call it "The lazy way out".