Melted Leek & Comté Slab Quiche (No-Roll Crust)
Growing up in Paris, a quiche was not a project. It was Tuesday night’s answer to a tired fridge. My mother would conjure these towering, impossibly light slices from scraps of cheese and whatever wilted greens survived the week. But when I started baking professionally in the Bay Area, quiche became a chore: chill the dough, roll the dough, blind bake, pray it doesn’t shrink. I reject that. We're not suffering for weeknight dinners. This Melted Leek & Comté Slab Quiche gives you café-level texture without the flour-dusted countertops. The inspiration? Pure exhaustion after a long bakery shift. The secret is the press-in, black-pepper butter crust. Think pâte sablée—a crumbly, buttery shortbread—but savory. You literally pat it into a sheet pan. More crust-to-crumb ratio, zero rolling. The filling is a simple custard carrying slow-melted leeks and sharp Comté. Don't rush the leeks; let time do the work until they are jammy and sweet. That sweetness cuts right through the nutty funk of the cheese. Cami’s shortcut note: Use a food processor to pulse cold butter into the flour until it looks like wet sand. Don't skip this: Bake until the center has a slight wobble, not a liquid jiggle. It will set as it cools. Want to make it yours? Swap Comté for Gruyère, or fold in roasted mushrooms. Just remember: butter is not a garnish.
Featured Recipe
Melted Leek & Comté Slab Quiche (No-Roll Crust)
A café-style dinner on a Tuesday timeline. We ditch the messy lamination for a press-in, black-pepper butter crust that behaves like a savory shortbread. Filled with sweet, slow-melted leeks and sharp Comté, this is high impact, low fuss—because we're not suffering for weeknight dinners.
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Timeline
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour(Plus a little extra if the dough is too wet)
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt(Divided: 1 tsp for crust, 1/2 tsp for custard)
- 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter(Melted (for crust))
- 2 tbsp ice water
- 3 large leeks(White and light green parts only, halved and cleaned)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter(For melting the leeks)
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 1 cup Comté cheese(Grated. Gruyère works if you can't find Comté.)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted(Mentioned in step 1, but only 'unsalted butter' is listed in the ingredients.)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). In a mixing bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper. Pour in 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and 2 tbsp ice water. Stir with a fork until the mixture clumps together like wet sand. Dump the crumbles directly into an 8x8-inch metal baking pan and press firmly and evenly across the bottom and about an inch up the sides.
5 min
Tip: Use the flat bottom of a measuring cup to compress the crust tightly. The tighter the compression, the better it holds.
- 2
Prick the bottom of the crust a few times with a fork. Bake the crust for 15 minutes until the edges just start to turn pale golden. Cami's rule: never skip the par-bake. If you pour a wet custard into raw flour, your crust will be tight like a bad alibi and terribly soggy.
15 min
Tip: No pie weights needed here; the melted butter prevents major shrinking.
- 3
While the crust bakes, prepare your aromatics. Slice 3 large leeks, white and light green parts only into thin half-moons. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp unsalted butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, stir to coat, then drop the heat to medium-low. Let them sweat and collapse until jammy and deeply sweet, about 15 minutes. Butter is not a garnish here; it’s the vehicle carrying the allium flavor.
15 min
Tip: Don't rush the melting phase. High heat fries them; low heat transforms them.
- 4
In a large measuring jug, whisk together 3 large eggs, 3/4 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp whole grain mustard, and the remaining 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Whisk briskly until completely smooth and a uniform pale yellow.
5 min
Tip: Using a measuring jug makes pouring the custard into the hot pan much easier and cleaner.
- 5
Pull the par-baked crust from the oven and immediately lower the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C). Scatter the deeply melted leeks evenly across the hot crust. Top with 1 cup grated Comté cheese. Slowly pour the egg custard over the top. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
25 min
Tip: You are looking for strict visual cues: the edges should be puffed and golden, and the center should have a slight, set wobble—not a liquid jiggle.
- 6
Pull the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack. Let the quiche rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. If you cut into it while it's piping hot, the custard will weep.
10 min
Tip: Serve warm with a sharp, lemony green salad to cut the richness of the cream and cheese.
Chef's Notes
Cami's shortcut note: The melted butter press-in crust is an absolute weeknight savior. Why it works: Melted butter thoroughly coats the flour proteins before any water is introduced, drastically limiting gluten formation. You get a wildly tender, crumbly crust that behaves like a savory shortbread and holds its shape against the wet custard without a rolling pin in sight.
Camille Roux
Café-level bakes, weeknight methods, zero compromise.
Camille “Cami” Roux was born in Paris with flour in her hair and a healthy skepticism of culinary dogma. She grew up around neighborhood boulangeries that treated crust and crumb like religion—but what stuck with her wasn’t rigid tradition. It was the quiet precision: good butter that actually tastes like milk, patient fermentation that builds flavor for free, and desserts that know when to stop before they get cloying. After moving to the Bay Area, Cami trained in a bread-and-pastry scene obsessed with texture, naturally leavened doughs, and seasonal fruit—Tartine energy, minus the martyrdom. She became known for loaves that sing when they cool, jammy tarts with clean edges, and “how is this so good?” weeknight pastries made with a few smart shortcuts. Her motto is high impact, low fuss: splurge where it counts (butter, salt, time), streamline the rest (sheet pans, one bowl, cold-proofing). If it doesn’t improve flavor or structure, it doesn’t earn a step.