Vegan Quiche

The first time I ever made a vegan quiche was in the early 90s, with a recipe from a then-new vegetarian cookbook. I remember it turned out OK. I gotta say: my vegan quiche these days is much, much better. The availability of vegan cheese substitutes and fancy soy creams (at least in major cities) makes it much easier to turn out a tasty vegan quiche than it was ten or twenty years ago. However…

My recipe is more original, more from-scratch (I always make my own crust but you can certainly work with a store-bought pastry shell) and doesn’t absolutely require the hardcore vegan ingredients. You could even drop the nutritional yeast, but I’d suggest increasing the spices and/or using the more luscious, creamy cashews instead of sunflower seeds.

Sure, I’ve eaten a few veggie quiches in Paris, but the story behind this recipe and my quiche smarts isn’t really based on vegan eats in Paris. (When in Paris I usually live on espresso and South Indian food.)

When I first moved to Berlin in the early 2000s, I met lots of fascinating people in my intensive German language classes. One was a journalist from Paris who threw dinner parties with her husband at their flat. Another was a punky illustrator and animation artist from Paris who’d moved to Berlin to be with her German boyfriend. We’d talk a lot about cooking and recipes (if we weren’t talking about Nina Hagen, art galleries, or Prenzlauer Berg gentrification). I was always curious to find out more about authentic French cooking. And particularly what parts of it could work well for vegetarians. After all, a steady diet of coffee, crepes, and croissants sounds delightful, but…

Anyway, the main thing I learned about making quiche is: keep the main ingredients simple! Don’t go for a five vegetable pie, and limit your main veg to two things. Or just one. I’ve experimented with all kinds of ingredients and crusts, and this recipe highlights my favorite: Broccoli quiche.

Last night I made a zucchini and mushroom quiche which is here for you to see, too.

So, how’s your quiche? Dis-moi, s’il vous plaît!

Vegan Quiche with Broccoli / with Zucchini & Mushroom

serves 4 / time 80 min

Crust:

• 1 + 2/3 cup / 220 g flour
• 1/3 cup / 75 g margarine or oil
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml cold water
• 2 tsp apple / rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar in large mixing bowl.
2. Add margarine, vinegar, half of water. Form ball, knead well, adding water (or more flour) as needed.
3. Cover dough, set aside for 30-60 min.

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
  or
• 1 cup / 1 medium zucchini sliced and
• 1 cup / 8-12 mushrooms sliced

• 1 medium shallot or red onion finely chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 Tbsn olive oil

• 200 g / 7 oz extra firm tofu crumbled
• 1 cup / 240 ml soy milk
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml white wine or veg stock or water
• 2 Tbsn lemon juice
• 1/2 cup / 60 g sunflower seeds lightly toasted, ground
• 1 Tbsn sesame seeds lightly toasted, ground
• 2 Tbsn chickpea flour
• 2-3 Tbsn nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/4 tsp cumin ground
• 1 tsp thyme ground
• 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
• 1/2 tsp turmeric ground
• 3/4 tsp salt
• pinch nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 425°F / 220°C / level 7.
2. Purée or blend tofu with soy milk. Transfer to large mixing bowl.
3. Add wine, lemon juice, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, cumin, thyme, turmeric, nutmeg, salt. Mix well with whisk.
4. Heat 2 Tbs oil in a large sauce pan on medium. Add garlic, shallot, cumin, pepper, fry 2-3 min.
5. Add broccoli (or mushrooms and zucchini), sauté lightly, stirring regularly, 4-5 min. Turn off heat, cover.
6. Grease a medium large (10×8 in / 25×20 cm , 9×9 in / 22×22 cm, 10 in / 25cm round, etc.) baking dish (glass or ceramic) with oil.
7. Press and spread dough evenly on bottom, along sides. Poke bottom several times with a fork. Pre-bake (empty) crust 7-10 min.
8. Arrange sautéed veg evenly on crust, pour tofu filling mix slowly to cover.
9. Bake for 35-50 min. Quiche is done when golden brown on top and a knife or toothpick come out clean.
10. Remove from oven, cool 10 min before cutting and serving.

Variations:
Other vegetable twists: tomato and onion, potato and carrot, red and green pepper. Spinach quiche: Lightly sauté 2 cups fresh (1 cup frozen – thawed) chopped spinach and add directly to tofu purée. Vedic style, No garlic or onions? Replace garlic, shallot with a pinch asafoetida, 1/2 tspn ground coriander. Super cheezy? Add 1/2 cup of your favorite grated vegan cheese on top of veg before adding tofu mix.

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