A few weeks ago, I had a special guest over for dinner: my American pen friend Amy, whose family hosted me in their Michigan home the summer I turned fifteen.
This was a life-defining trip for me: it was my first time in the US, a.k.a. the coolest country in the world in the eyes of this French teen, and Amy’s parents made it count in a way I’ll forever be grateful for, taking us on roadtrips in their minivan (with a television and VCR inside!) to Canada and to New York City (New York City!), and generally making sure I had a grand time.
Everything was a source of gleeful amazement to me, from the size of the backyard to the whole-house air-conditioning, from the gigantic malls to the extra frilly decorations in every girl’s room I visited, from the frozen waffles I was allowed to have every morning (every morning!) with bottled chocolate syrup to my first PB&J (which I did not “get” at the time), from the powerful smell of popcorn in movie theaters to the different kinds of fast food (burgers! tacos! pizzas!) Amy’s father picked up on his way home from work most nights.
Nobody would mistake it for the classic egg-and-cream quiche filling, but it hit all the right notes: creamy but pleasantly set, richly flavorful on its own but subtle enough to let the other ingredients shine.
Amy and I got along famously, but we lost touch as teenagers will — and probably did even more easily in that pre-Internet era. In recent years I searched for her on Facebook every once in a while, but turned up empty. Eventually it is she who wrote in, letting me know she’d soon be traveling through Europe and stopping for a few days in Paris. Would I be up for a little reunion?
The least I could do was invite her to dinner and she said yes, noting that she was now a vegan. I wanted to make her something homey and French, something I would serve to any of my old girlfriends, and decided on a quiche filled with greens, in the style of this greens and walnut quiche.
Obviously the egg-milk-and-cream filling would not do, so I looked for a vegan alternative and was intrigued by this idea of a filling based on chickpea flour, thickened to a custardy consistency on the stove, and flavored with spices and nutritional yeast, the go-to vegan ingredient when a cheesy note is needed.
The filling was very easy to prepare — I made it and my olive oil tart crust the day before — and it garnished the quiche in the most satisfying way. Nobody would mistake it for the classic egg-and-cream custard of course, but it hit all the right notes: creamy but pleasantly set, richly flavorful on its own but subtle enough to let the other ingredients shine.
Join the conversation!
Have you kept in touch with your foreign exchange friends, and what would you serve if you had them over for dinner now? Have you ever made a vegan quiche, and what type of filling did you use?
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Vegan Quiche Filling Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
For one 30-cm (12-inch) quiche.
Ingredients
- 100 grams (1 cup) chickpea flour (available from natural foods stores and Indian markets, also labeled as gram flour or besan)
- 15 grams (1/4 cup) nutritional yeast (available from natural foods stores)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, salt, nutmeg, and turmeric. Add the mustard and whisk in 240 ml (1 cup) fresh water.
- Pour 360 ml (1 1/2 cups) fresh water in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the chickpea mixture and bring back to a simmer.
- Cook over low heat for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.
- The quiche filling is now ready to use, but you can also pour it into a container and refrigerate until the next day. It will thicken and separate, but that's okay: simply whisk it back into shape.
- To use, combine it with the other quiche ingredients and pour into a blind-baked quiche shell, such as my olive oil tart crust, parbaked for 10 minutes at 180°C (360°F).
- Bake at 180°C (360°F) for 25 minutes, then brush the top with olive oil (this gives a nice sheen to the otherwise matte finish of the filling) and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Serve hot or just slightly warm.
Notes
https://cnz.to/recipes/vegetables-grains/vegan-quiche-filling-recipe/
Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier.
FAQs
Quiche is a savory egg custard baked in a flaky pie crust shell. Though you can certainly make a crustless quiche, too! The base of quiche filling are milk, cream, and eggs. The add-ins vary and can include meats, seafood, cheese, spices, and vegetables.
What is vegan quiche made of? ›
For starters, the crust is just hash browns (making the whole thing naturally gluten-free)! And the filling is loaded with roasted veggies (any you have on hand), and a mixture of silken tofu, hummus and nutritional yeast to give it that perfect egg-like flavor and texture.
What makes a quiche curdle? ›
Quiche should not be cooked at too high of a temperature to avoid curdling the eggs. Many recipes call for baking quiche at temperatures between 325° F and 375° F. If you are baking at a high altitude, the temperature and bake times will need to be adjusted.
Why is my quiche not fluffy? ›
You want to cook your quiche low and slow to keep the light fluffy texture. Too high of heat will cause the egg to curdle.
What is a substitute for heavy cream in quiche? ›
Use half-and-half as a 1:1 substitute for heavy cream. It can work nearly as well for bringing creamy texture and flavor to sauces, soups and stews, mashed potatoes, quiches, and casseroles. In a pinch, it can even be used for whipping. While you won't get stiff peaks, you can build volume if you work quickly.
What is the formula for quiche? ›
Quiche Ratio: 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of dairy
You'll need to increase the amount of eggs and milk based on the size of your quiche, so knowing the basic ratio makes it really easy to scale up or down. For a standard 9-inch quiche: Use 3 large eggs (6 ounces) 1 1/2 cups of whole milk or cream (12 ounces)
What can you substitute for eggs in a quiche? ›
I have used silken tofu to good effect as a substitute for eggs but lately my favorite substitute for eggs in quiche is the egg substitute Just Egg - it is made from moong beans. It gives a perfect texture and taste (I think … ) and I have had omnivores eat my quiche without realizing it is vegan - and they loved it.
What is a quiche without pastry called? ›
Frittatas are Italian in origin and can be described as a cross between an omelet and a crustless quiche. Frittatas take less time to make than quiche or strata. The dish is traditionally made by beating eggs with dairy—often heavy cream or half and half—together with ingredients like vegetables, meats and cheeses.
What's the difference between a frittata and a quiche recipe? ›
Crust: A quiche has crust while a frittata does not. Sometimes, quiche is baked without crust. Base Ingredients: While both frittatas and quiches are made with eggs, quiche is made with an egg custard, which also includes cream or milk. Some frittatas are made with egg whites only.
Should vegetables be cooked before putting in quiche? ›
"Vegetables will take longer to cook than your egg custard, so always sauté onions, steam broccoli, etc. before you add them to your egg mixture to ensure every bite of quiche will be perfectly cooked," says Kristin Beringson, executive chef at Henley in Nashville.
Using too many eggs in the custard results in a quiche that rubbery and too firm when baked, while not using enough will prevent the custard from setting. Follow This Tip: Remember this ratio: 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of dairy.
Should crust be prebaked for quiche? ›
And yes, as you'll see, you should always prebake quiche crust to avoid a gummy pastry. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll out your homemade or purchased refrigerated dough into a 12-inch circle.
Should you beat eggs for quiche? ›
BEAT eggs, milk, thyme and salt in medium bowl until blended. Carefully POUR over filling in pie shell. BAKE in center of 375°F oven until center is almost set but jiggles slightly when dish is gently shaken and knife inserted near center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
How to avoid a soggy bottom quiche? ›
Blind Bake the Crust
One of the fool-proof ways to ensure a crisp bottom pie crust is to do what is called blind baking. This simply means that you bake the crust—either fully if you are adding a custard or cream that won't be cooked, or partially if the whole pie needs to bake—before adding the filling.
What is a quiche base made of? ›
Quiche crusts are made with shortcrust pastry. The name “shortcrust” refers to the baking term “short” which means pastries that are flaky and crumble when you cut into them.
Is quiche made with heavy cream or light cream? ›
Heavy cream is traditional in Quiche Lorraine, however, we seem to have better luck with light cream in our quiche recipes. They bake up lighter and the filling ingredients really shine through instead of getting masked by the milk fat.
Does quiche always contain cheese? ›
What Is a Quiche? Quiche is a savory French tart with an egg custard (eggs, milk or cream and seasoning) and fillings baked in a pie crust. Quiche filling typically includes at least one kind of cheese, along with blanched vegetables, cooked, diced meat and sometimes seafood.
Are quiches healthy? ›
Not always healthy, quiche could be a diet downfall! Prepared with heavy cream and cheeses and baked in a piecrust, there can be excessive calories and fat.
