Vegetarian Quiche

Quiche is a very versatile, classic French dish. There is almost no one who does not love it, and our students are no different. Quiche is easy to make at home, can be eaten hot or cold, and can be made with almost any leftover ingredients, making it a wonderful way to save leftovers. 

Interestingly, the original Quiche recipe does not contain cheese and is certainly not vegetarian. The filling consisted of good-quality meaty bacon, eggs, and high-fat sour cream, which, when topped with onions, was called Alsatian quiche. To this day, the only identical ingredient in quiche recipes is the cream and egg sauce that holds it all together. 

Quiche is also loved because it can be made all year round. You can always use vegetables or even fruits of the season in your recipe. You can use peppers, mushrooms, carrots, green peas, olives, asparagus, spinach, courgettes, dried tomatoes, pears (caramelized), apples, plums, walnuts, sesame seeds, oatmeal, and flaxseed meal, among other things. 

But the vegetables cannot be the only additions. The sauce can also be enriched with cottage cheese, cream cheese, mascarpone, feta, cheddar, or brie. Seasoning can be done with ground pepper, nutmeg, white pepper, cumin, curry, or garlic.  

Quiche recipe

Quiche Crust recipe: 

Ingredients

185g all-purpose flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

100g unsalted butter, cold, cut into approx. 1cm cubes 

3 tbsp ice freezing water or more as required

Place flour, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs. 

Pour 2.5 tbsp of water into the tube feeder with the motor running low. 

Turn up to high and blitz until it turns into a dough ball (30 seconds). If it does not look like it is coming together after 20 seconds, add another 1/2 tbsp of water or an egg yolk. Wait to blitz for 30 seconds at most. 

Form a disc and wrap it in cling wrap. If crumble bits escape, that is fine—just press them in. Refrigerate for 1 - 3 hours. 

Preheat oven to 200C (standard) or 180C (fan forced) 

Sprinkle the work surface with flour, unwrap the dough and place it on the flour. Sprinkle top with flour, then roll out into a 27cm round. Gently roll the pastry so it wraps around the rolling pin. 

Unroll it over the quiche pan or pie dish. Press the pastry into the edges of the quiche pan, patching up edges if required (if the pastry does not reach the top of the rim). Roll the rolling pin across the top to cut off the excess pastry. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. 

Place a large piece of parchment paper over the pastry, then fill it with baking beads, rice, or dried beans to weigh it down. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. 

Turn the oven down to 180C /160C. 

Use excess paper to carefully remove hot beads, then return to the oven for 10 minutes or until the base is light golden. Remove it from the oven and fill with your chosen Quiche Filling. 

Note: the pastry will not be 100% cooked; it finishes cooking with the filling. It is cooked enough so the crust will stay smooth. 

Quiche Filling recipe

 Ingredients: 

2 tbsp oil or butter 

1 small onion, diced 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

1 medium tomato, chopped 

1 small zucchini, diced 

86 grams mushrooms, chopped (can sub bell pepper) 

30 grams chopped sweet pepper 

1 tsp oregano 

 ½ tsp sea salt 

Freshly ground black pepper 

6 large eggs 

119 ml cooking cream 

50 grams mozzarella 

66 grams of shredded cheddar cheese 

Preheat oven to 180/160C. 

Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Once hot, add onion and a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomato, zucchini, and mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes or until the veggies have softened. Add oregano, salt, and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes or until wilted. Transfer the veggies to the dish with the uncooked crust. 

Whisk eggs, cooking cream, mozzarella, and cheddar in a medium bowl. Pour over veggies. Top with a sprinkle of extra cheddar if desired. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the quiche has set. Let the quiche cool for 15 minutes before slicing and enjoy!