Mushroom spinach vegan “quiche”

Is a quiche a quiche if there are no eggs and cream involved? Is pastry dough pastry dough if zero butter was used in the making of it? Maybe I should call this recipe a vegan vegetable tart, instead of a quiche, just to be safe from all the people complaining about veg*n calling dishes the same as their not veg*n counterparts, just because it’s easier to convey what kind of dish it is.

Mini vegan veggie tart

Mini vegan veggie tart

In any case, this vegan tart can be adapted to whichever (seasonal) vegetables you want to use. The base can be used for sweet as well as savory tarts. Fruit pies, frangipane tart, veggie tarts! The uses are pretty much endless. I tried this crust a couple of times, to make sure the first time wasn’t just a fluke. And it wasn’t. The next step will be finding a gluten-free flour mix with which the recipe works well.

Ingredients

For the crust:

  • 275 grams all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 120 grams refined coconut oil (solid)
  • 6-8 tablespoons (90-120 ml) cold water

For the vegetables:

  • 250 grams mushrooms, cleaned
  • 1 onion (±125 grams) onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 300 grams frozen spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper to taste

For the “custard”:

  • 400 grams silken tofu
  • 240 ml water
  • 140 grams chickpea flour
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

Instructions

For the crust:

  1. In the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix the flour and salt. Add the coconut oil in small(ish)1 pieces, and mix or process until only very small pieces of oil are left and it looks like a crumble.
  2. With the machine still running, add the cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until a cohesive dough forms. Not all water might be needed.
  3. Remove dough from processor / mixer, give it a quick knead to bring it all together, and start rolling out.
  4. For individual / mini quiches, cut the dough in pieces2 before rolling each individually about 3 mm thick.
  5. Line each tart mold, carefully pushing the dough into the crimps.
  6. Set aside in the fridge3 before filling and baking.

For the vegetables:

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  2. Chop the onion. Cut the mushrooms in quarters. Mix both and spread in a (lined, for easier cleaning) baking tray. Spray some olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
  3. Bake mushrooms for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
  4. Meanwhile, thaw the spinach. Squeeze as much liquid as possible and chop finely. If using fresh spinach, chop & saute in a bit of oil until wilted and the liquid has evaporated.
  5. Allow spinach to cool. Then mix with the mushrooms.
  6. Note: this tart can be made with any vegetables you want. Calculate 700-750 grams of vegetables in total.

For the custard:

  1. In a blender, mix tofu and water together.
  2. In a bowl, mix chickpea flour & spices with a whisk.
  3. Add the mixed tofu to the chickpea flour and mix to combine. Let it rest about 10 minutes before proceeding.

Assembly and baking:

  1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
  2. Take the lined tins out of the fridge, divide veggies between the tins, then pour custard to fill the crust4.
  3. Place the tins on a baking tray.
  4. Bake 20-25 minutes until set and golden.
  5. Remove from tins and serve.

Servings

8-10 servings

Notes

  1. about a tablespoon worth
  2. With this recipe I had enough for 9 10 cm tarts, or 1 24 cm + 1 15 cm
  3. The crust can easily be made the day before baking. Just keep it in the fridge until filling & baking time
  4. If making one big quiche, mix veggies with custard, then pour into crust

Blueberry galette

It seems like I am in a blueberry kick. I do love me some blueberries, and since frozen ones are so easy to keep, it’s easy to reach for them for a quick dessert.

We invited the family over for Easter Sunday lunch. We served a selection of cheeses, fruit & breads.

Spread of cheeses, fruit and breads

And for dessert I wanted something easy and quick, that wasn’t fiddly and could be baked while or right after lunch to have a bit later as dessert. I also wanted something relatively light (not loaded with butter and eggs) and with lots of fruit. A galette came to the rescue!

Blueberry galette

Blueberry galette

While a traditional galette pastry is made with butter, this olive oil version turned out to be perfect as well. It stood up to the juicy berries, and provided a nice crunchy edge. Thanks to the tiny amount of sprinkled sugar, it also turned a nice shade of golden.

Note that I didn’t pinch that one fold quite enough, and it folded back open during baking, letting the juices escape.

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 200 gr flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 30 gr sugar
  • 50 ml olive oil
  • 75-100 ml water

For the berry filling:

  • 450 gr (frozen) blueberries
  • 30-40 gr sugar
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla essence
  • 30-40 gr fine corn flour
  • 1 tsp sugar (for sprinkling)

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients for the dough in a bowl, starting with only 75 ml water. Mix it, adding more water if needed, and for a bowl with it. Let rest for an hour or while the berries thaw.
  2. Mix the all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and let sit for an hour, or while the berries thaw.
  3. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  4. Roll out the dough into a (approximate) circle shape, about 25 cm in diameter, on a piece of parchment paper. You don’t want the dough to be too thin, it needs to stand up to being folded over the filling.
  5. Spoon the berries on to the middle of the dough circle, leaving 4-5cm free all around. Reserve the liquid!
  6. Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling, pinching the folds so they stick together. Pour the reserved liquid on top of the berries. Sprinkle 1 tsp sugar over the pastry edges.
  7. Transfer the galette (and parchment) to a rimed1 baking tray, and bake at 180°C for 30-35 minutes, until the berries are all jammy and the pastry is crunchy and golden.
  8. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15-30 minutes. Serve lukewarm, with ice cream if desired.

Servings

8 wedges.

  1. Trust me on this one, and use a rimed tray, chances are the filling will escape, and flow on to the bottom of the oven and burn to a sticky bubbly and sharp caramel there. Avoid that!