This week has been a successful week. I finally managed to make two savory recipes in the row. I also sticked to my goal of only recreating and veganizing food I got to know on my travels. And I have to admit that I enjoy the challenge and feel like I finally put some more thinking and research into my recipes. I also managed to set up a new blog section, called Resources. My plan is to share more about my photography process with you. In the future I’ll be uploading tutorials, equipment posts and answers to frequently asked questions. For now I’ve set up a small shop where you can buy the Lightroom presets I use to my moody food photography. And last but not least I finally changed my branding and I’m now slowly rolling it out on my blog and social media channels.
I’ll leave the change of branding to another time, once it’s all completely set up but I’m super excited about it. How do you like the new logo? Anyway, because I’ve worked so much on “behind the scenes” things on my blog and business, I didn’t have the time and energy to write a proper blog post. So unfortunately (or maybe fortunately depending if you like to read anything other than recipes), this post will be quick and easy. Just like my previous ones. Or just like this vegan quiche.
I’ve always been a fan of all thing quiche, tart or pie. But the typical French quiche must be one of my favorites. Served with a fresh salad, a glass of cold white wine, somewhere in the French countryside overlooking a beautiful vineyard. That’s all I need for the rest of my life. Luckily quiche is so diverse and can be filled with an unlimited variation of ingredients and flavours, I would never bore of it. This quiche is a vegan take on the traditional version. I kind of made it at the right time, introducing spring to our table. I don’t know about you but in Istanbul the weather has been miserable till recently and spring is only very slowly making an appearance.
So, instead of eating this vegan quiche on the balcony in the warm spring sun like I had imagined it, it was a cold and dark day when I made it. But the comforting smell, the bright green and yellow colors and the rich flavour made up for it and it actually felt a little like spring that day.
French “Hello Spring” Pea Asparagus Vegan Quiche
- 2 cups / 250 grams all purpose flour
- ½ cup /100 grams coconut oil, solid (not fridge-cold but cool-room-temperature-cold)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- ⅓ -1/2 cup ice cold water
- 300 grams/ 1 block firm (preferably silken) tofu
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- pinch of salt (depending if the tofu is already seasoned/salty)
- *optional: 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp parsley, chopped
- 1 cup frozen chickpeas
- 10 green asparagus spears
- * the secret to a successful vegan coconut oil crust are cold tools, so put your bowl, rolling pin and fork in the freezer for a few minutes
- Preheat oven to 180 °C / 350 °F
- In a cold bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar
- Add solid coconut oil and use a fork (or pastry cutter) to slice the coconut oil into the flour
- Continue until mixture is crumbly and sticks together when you squeeze it
- Now drizzle the ice cold water of the dough, starting with ⅓ water, and keep forking until everything comes together (you can also use your hands but don't over mix it)
- When it's easy to form a ball (it's fine if it's still a bit crumbly, that makes the crust more flaky), the dough is ready - if it's still do dry, add more water
- Turn dough onto a floured surface and roll it out (sprinkle more flour if the dough starts sticking)
- Roll dough into a large circle, big enough so that you can easily cover your pie pan
- Flip dough onto your pie pan, squeeze the edges to make a nice pattern and set aside
- Sauté peas and green asparagus in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until softened or for about 5 - 8 min
- In a high-speed blender or food processor, combine tofu, turmeric garlic powder, salt (if tofu is not salty) and nutritional yeast
- Blend until ingredients becomes a creamy mixture (if the firm tofu is too dry like mine was, add a little bit of water or plant based mylk, one tablespoon at a time until its wet enough to become a creamy mixture)
- Add parsley and pulse until it's roughly chopped and mixed in
- Add half of the peas and asparagus to the bottom of the pie crust, pour the quiche tofu batter on top smooth out the top with a spoon and add the other half of the veggies on top, gently pressing it into the batter
- Bake for 30 to 35 min or until the top begins to brown
- Serve with a green salad
hi kati, i wonder if i could make a crustless version of this quiche? So perhaps just putting the filling into a silicone muffin tin and bake them. What do you think? Thanks and love your blog 🙂
Never tried it but i think it’s possible because the tofu filling should be solid enough. Let me know if you give it a go and if it worked out. x Kati
I cooked a lot of dishes according to your recipes and with confidence I can say that these recipes are simply inimitable.
A beautiful dish! Quiche is a perfect meal that could pass as breakfast, lunch, or dinner! And its always tastier when using seasonal, fresh ingredients. This one is perfect for spring, and a great vegan alternative. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Mary. I totally agree, I love using seasonal and fresh ingredients. Just makes the food taste ever better 🙂
x Kati