Although quiches may sound a little old fashioned, you have to admit, their charming aesthetic makes them really hard to resist! Quiches are extremely versatile; a quiche is a savoury open tart, or open pie, with a flaky pastry crust filled with a base custard mixture of eggs, cream, and cheese. Popular quiche recipes include bacon and leaks, such as the Quiche Lorraine. As a vegan you don’t have to miss out on quiches at all. Now more than ever, there are loads of recipes that omit chicken eggs completely, creating the same ‘egg’ custard-y texture of traditional quiches. It really isn’t hard at all!

The actual preparation, cooking of the filling and making of the crust are actually pretty easy. What might seem off putting to some are the long baking times. Traditional quiches need to bake in the oven for up to 45 minutes (depending the the size of the pie pans) and, in some cases, there’s also the pre-baking or ‘blind’ baking of the crust. Other than that, it’s just a matter of mixing up a couple of ingredients.

Quiche is the type of dish that can be enjoyed at any time of day. Grab a slice for breakfast, accompanied with your favourite fruits, have a slice for lunch with a hearty salad, or have a leftover slice for dinner with a nice bowl of soup. Because quiches sometimes taste better the next day, it’s a great dish to make in advance, especially if you’re making it in preparation for a special occasion or a picnic, as you don’t need to worry about heating it up because you can just serve it cold.

Although I’ve used the VeganEgg from Follow Your Heart, you can completely omit this from the recipe and tweek the amounts of gram flour and tofu. It even works with using either gram flour alone, mixed with cream, or just silken tofu blended with the cream. They all yield slightly different textures. I chose to use the VeganEgg because of the texture and its binding abilities.

The main ingredient in the VeganEgg powder is Algal flour (a derivative of algae). There are still some misconceptions around consuming algae, but it is often considered incredibly nutritious. Let’s not forget that Spirulina is an algae, and seaweed is considered more of an algae than a plant. Algal flour is an excellent source of fibre with 4g per serving, and zero cholesterol. Algal flour also contains highly digestible amino acids that are absolutely necessary for regulating the appetite, metabolic rate and the ability to have deep sleep.

Crust Method

STEP ONE – Mix ingredients

Add the flour, butter and water to a mixing bowl. You’ll want to put the flour and butter in first. Use your hands to “press” the butter into the flour, grabbing a handful of flour and butter and squeezing out the mixture through your fingers. Once you have created a ‘crumbly’ dough (should take less than a minute), you can then slowly add the water. You’ll want the consistency like that of cookie dough.

STEP TWO – Knead

Using the strength of your palms, knead the dough on a floured surface. Keep kneading until the dough is nice and smooth.

Here is a picture of what your dough should NOT look like. Notice the little dents? I added a little too much butter (I went rogue and eyed it instead of measuring it). This can be easily fixed by gradually kneading in more flour to the dough. Be careful not to overwork the dough, as this can ruin it and make for a tough crust.

STEP THREE – Let it rest

Shape the dough into a ball and wrap with cling film. Place it in the fridge and let it rest for a minimum of 20 minutes, ideally an hour. While you let the dough rest, start cooking your quiche filling.

STEP FOUR- Rolling out the dough

After letting the dough rest, roll it out into a large circle, big enough to cover your pie tin. You’ll want the dough to be about 3mm thick. Admittedly, mine was just a tad bit thicker.

STEP FIVE – Blind bake

Oil your pie/tart tin and place the dough in it. Cover it with a sheet of foil or baking paper and fill it with ceramic baking stones. Alternatively you can also use rice or dried beans for this. Bake for 10 minutes at 480 degrees Fahrenheit/250 degrees celsius.

Blind baking the crust ensures that you get a really nice crunchy crust, without worrying about it getting soggy from the filling.

STEP SIX – Final crust bake

Take the crust out of the oven and remove the foil and baking weights. Return the crust back to the oven and bake for a further 5 mins at 480 degrees Fahrenheit/250 degrees to get it nice and golden brown. Then let it rest until you are ready with the filling.

Filling Method

STEP ONE – PREP

Cut up the vegetables. Finely chop the onions and mushrooms, slice the leaks, and cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and keep them aside. We won’t be using them until right before we bake our quiche.

STEP TWO – Sauté Leaks

Add some oil to a heated pan on medium heat and add the garlic, onions and leaks. Cook until the onions and leaks become translucent and tender.

STEP THREE – Sauté Mushrooms

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until browned — you’ll know when they are done when they have lost half their size.

STEP FOUR – Add the spinach

Lastly add the baby spinach to the pan and cook until wilted. Pour the vegetables through a strainer to get rid of the excess water that has come out of the mushrooms and spinach. Set aside.

Custard Method

STEP ONE – VeganEgg

Since we’re using the VeganEgg, we need to blend this mixture with ice cold water like it says on the packaging. I find it works just as well with cold water from the fridge. Mix the VeganEgg powder with water in a high speed blender or food processor, and blend until thoroughly combined and keep it in the blender.

STEP TWO – Tofu + Gram Flour

On top of the VeganEgg mixture, break apart the tofu block with your hands into the blender, add the gram flour, cream, milk, turmeric, nutritional yeast, a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Blend on high for at least a minute. It should have the consistency of thick cream.

Assembling the quiche

Some people like to mix the filling into the custard mixture, but i find that you get a more even distribution of the filling if you place the filling in first and layer on the egg custard.

STEP ONE – Layering the filling

Start by adding a layer of cheese at the bottom, followed by a layer of the sautéed vegetables, then a generous amount of the egg custard. add another layer of the vegetables, followed by cheese, then the egg custard. Garnish with the tomato halves.

STEP TWO – Bake!

Place in the oven for 30 minutes at 430 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees celsius, until the top is nice and golden brown.

STEP THREE – Let it rest

Let the quiche rest for at least 15 minutes. The longer you let it rest, the better the texture of the quiche. Quiches can be served warm or cold. I prefer mine at room temperature, but you can easily reheat your quiche in the microwave for 30 seconds.

 

The thing I loved most about this recipe is the texture of the quiche- egg-like yet in some ways creamy. The combination of the gram flour, tofu and VeganEgg really does a great job at simulating the texture of real eggs, it’s not exactly the same, and it doesn’t have the same taste as real eggs. However, if you’re looking for a cruelty free alternative, if you’re looking for a tasty way to increase your fiber consumption, or you’re looking for a way to enjoy quiches without the worry of the high cholesterol, give this recipe a try! This was a very simple recipe, but if I were going to make it again I would add roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes and mince to the filling for an even more flavourful quiche, and garnish with black olives. I just used what I had on hand, and topped it off with some Sriracha.

If this has got you feeling inspired, check out these classic French recipes you can easily master at home!