Non-dairy quiche

[Clara]

The problem is that France is not vegetarian orientated so I am giggling my face off here at the thought of getting non dairy cheese, quorn, quorn bacon, lard, vegan marge.........

The reason we use just butter for pastry is because there is no other option!

You can make pastry with oil instead, in fact I have a german friend who when she comes to her house in Spain simply substitutes oil for butter in all recipes. This is not the climate for butter, and down south it is horrendously expensive AND we live in the main olive growing area of europe.....go figure!

*trying not to puke at the thought of quorn bacon*

[ocailleagh]

Ah...I hadn't noticed the being in France part...

*trying not to puke at the thought of quorn bacon*

Quorn bacon is really nice! Not exactly like bacon, obviously, but pretty close. Especially good for camping breakfasts!

[hedgewitch]

Tofu and Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients

1 Tblsp olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 tablespoon fresh chives minced
1/4 teaspoon dried, crushed rosemary
black pepper to taste (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
1 block firm tofu, drained of water
1/4 cup plain rice milk
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon tahini
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pie crust like you'd usually make



Directions
Preheat oven to 180degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie dish and put your pastry in, trimming the edges blah blah blah.
Lightly spray or grease skillet. Saute garlic, onions, peppers and mushrooms over medium heat until mushrooms start to exude their juices. Stir in chives, rosemary and pepper. Remove from heat.
In blender or food processor, combine remaining ingredients. Process until completely smooth. Add the tofu mixture to the vegetables. Stir well.
Spoon mixture into pie crust.
Bake for 25 - 35 minutes, check at 20 mins. When knife inserted comes out clean, it's done. Let cool about 10 mins. before serving.

Tried and tested and made oodles of times.

[ina]

You can make pastry with oil instead, in fact I have a german friend who when she comes to her house in Spain simply substitutes oil for butter in all recipes.

Do you know whether she uses the same quantities of oil as you would of butter? I use oil in most baking - sponges etc - but have shied away from trying pastry with it so far.

[Shirley]

Here´s what I adapted whilst I was dairy-free for a while:

Vegan pasty (a la Cranks) - sorry my book has disintergrated now, but I´m sure someone here can post if you can´t find a recipe on the web. It´s very basic: usual flour with a mix of roughly half and half (I think) oil and water, until you get a pastry consistency.

Cranks Wholemeal Pastry made with oil

An alternative type of shortcrust pastry, which may be a little more difficult to handle

100% wholemeal flour 8 oz (225g)
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
pinch of salt
5 tbsp oil (75ml)
3 tbsp cold water (45 ml)

Put the flour, baking powder & salt in a basin. Whisk the oil and water together, then add to the dry ingredients. Work together to give a soft, manageable dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of greaseproof paper.

Makes about 12 oz (350g)

Source - the wonderful Cranks Recipe Book

[ina]

Cheers, that's great - it uses a little less oil and more water... Makes sense. I think I'll try that with the wonderful "mellow yellow" oil - should be a nice colour, if nothing else!

[Clara]

Thanks Shirlz - I´ll write that down this time!

[Clara]

As I´m not vegan but just want to cut down on our butter consumption, I just experimented with the Cranks pastry, by replacing 1tbsp oil and 1tbsp water with an egg. Made a much nicer richer pastry....certainly had OH fooled!

[Busy Bee]

Thanks hedgewitch for that; I miss quiches so will be giving this a go at some point :)

[Lady Willow]

do you still need quiche recipes? I've got lots, using silken tofu instead of eggs/milk ... delish .... my favourite is caramelised red onion and thyme tart. Let me know if you want the recipe.

BTW ... vegan marg is widely available in France (generally the very cheap stuff ... which I steared clear of for ages thinking it would be rank, but it's actually quite nice)

[hedgewitch]

That recipe sounds lovely, I would LOVE it if you shared it.

[Lady Willow]

150g self raising flour
pinch salt
65g margarine
25g walnuts, finely chopped
Sift flour into a bowl with the salt and rub in the margarine. Mix in the walnuts and cold water to form a dough. Knead until smooth, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. Line a 23cm loose-bottom tin. Chill for 20 minutes, prick all over and bake blind.

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
3 red onions, finely sliced
Sweat over a very low heat for 20 minutes, stirring often.

1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon sugar
Stir in and season. Cook for 5 minutes until caramelised. Cool slightly. Spoon over the baked pie shell.

130g silken tofu
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
150ml soya cream
Blend, together with seasoning, until smooth. Spoon over the baked pastry case and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees until golden and set.


Better make two, the first will be eaten as soon as it's out of the oven!

[hedgewitch]

WOW!!!

That does sound seriously good. I will definitely make this.
Thankyou