Quiche au Gruyere - sounds fancy, huh?

This is a relatively reluctant post.  I am about to expose one of my fancier schmancier dishes as a total fraud.  It's got a fancy name, and it looks - and tastes - like I spent all kinds of time on it.  In reality - as you will see, Laurie - it takes almost no time at all to prepare and has very few ingredients.  Quiche au Gruyere.  Most folks call it Quiche Lorraine, but this folk used the power of google and discovered the French do not consider a quiche to be "Lorraine" if it is made with cheese.  Google makes me feel smart.  Make this quiche and people will think you are smart.  I actually don't know if that is true, but they will at least think they are special eating this super tasty dish you have prepared for them.

Ingredients:

1 10 inch pie crust
1 large egg beaten

For Filling:

Olive Oil
8 oz bacon, cooked crispy and broken into tiny pieces (I don't know how you cook bacon, but I put mine on a foil-lined cookie sheet and throw it in the oven at 375.  No grease splatter to clean up.  No flipping.)
3 large eggs
Freshly ground nutmeg - to taste (I use about a tsp)
1 cup heavy cream
Heaping 2/3 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly oil an 8 3/4 x 1 1/4-inch fluted tart pan with removable base (it really helps to use this exact pan and not a pie pan - if you don't have one, get one or you can borrow one of mine).  Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch.  Transfer dough to the prepared pan.  Line the dough with parchment paper and the fill with pie weights.  Bake about 25 minutes, until firm.  Remove the weights and paper, and brush with beaten egg.  Return to oven and bake another 7 minutes.

Whisk the eggs with nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.  Whisk in cream until thoroughly combined.  Sprinkle bacon onto bottom of the pasty, then top with cheese.  Gently pour the egg mix through a sieve into pastry until three-quarters full.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the filling is well colored and is set.  Serve hot or cold. 

Enjoy yo!