Vegan quiche with tofu and besan

Quiche has never been one of my favourite dishes.  After all I am not so keen on pastry or eggs.  But make it vegan with both tofu and besan (chickpea flour) and lots of vegies and I think I am in love.  It is a complex dish with multiple components.  The first time it had too much ooze but the second time it was perfect, if I may say so myself!

I have dabbled in vegan quiches before.  Tofu quiches are too watery and besan quiches are too dense.  I knew I wanted a combination of the two.  Inspired by Kate, I searched the web and turned up some vegan quiche recipes which gave me enough guidance and an excellent flaky vegan pie crust recipe.

Just before we went to see the Christmas lights, I mad my first attempt.  It tasted excellent but the texture was too wobbly.  I thought it would firm up when cooked by it never set properly.  Even the next day after more baking it still had an ooze.  I knew it needed more besan.  It took me so long to make that I needed another night with enough time and energy.

I have always loved lots of vegies in my quiche.  In the recipe below I have given the vegetable combinations I used on both quiches to show that you can choose whatever vegies your fridge yields.  Just make sure they are well cooked and not too soggy.

My second attempt at the quiche had me increasing the besan from 5 to 8 tablespoons and reducing the milk from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup.

It was a drizzly day when I had been cleaning the house all day so who knows where the energy to make the quiche came from.  I suspect it was a matter of just keeping going because once I stopped I just dropped.  On the up side, we did find spiders, lego pieces, a forgotten easter egg and lots of hair clips in the pantry, behind the stereo and under the bed.

Cleaning the house gave me a great sense of achievement and producing a wonderful quiche at the end of the day was just the ended I needed to feel totally satisfied.  So Sylvia photo bombed this final photo with her scissors.  I think I was too tired to care.  I was just enjoying the quiche.

I am sending this to Lisa's Kitchen for My Legume Love Affair #79, the blog event that features legumes of all varieties and was founded by Susan of My Well Seasoned Kitchen.  I am sending also sending it to Kimmy of Rock My Vegan Socks for Healthy Vegan Fridays #32.

More vegan pastry recipes from Green Gourmet Giraffe: 
Apple and pumpkin pastries with spiced red wine 
Chocolate mince pies
Eccles cakes with leeks, spinach and blue cheese
Haggis neeps and tatties pasties
Liz O'Brien's sausage rolls (vegan)
Spaghetti pie
Stargazy pie

Vegan quiche with tofu and besan
Serves 4 to 6

Pastry
Adapted from the Blasphemous Vegan
1 cup plain white flour
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water plus 1-3 tbsp

 Vegetables version 1:
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup uncooked tofu bacon, diced
1 red onion, in thin crescents kernels of 1 corn cob
2 mall zucchini, sliced
1/2 red capsicum, diced
handful of spinach, chopped

Vegetable version 2:
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup uncooked tofu bacon, diced
1 red onion, sliced in thin crescents kernels of 1 corn cob
1/2 carrot, diced
3/4 red capsicum, diced
1 bunch broccolini, diced

Tofu/Besan Filling:
8 tbsp besan (chickpea flour)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup soy milk
3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp stock powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
300g tofu (I used medium but any would do)

Preheat oven to 180 C.

To make pastry:
Mix flours.  Stir in olive oil and then 1/4 cup of water.  Add a little extra water if necessary to make it come together into a ball.  You can do this in the food processor too.  Knead briefly until smooth.  And if you happen to add a little too much water just knead briefly with a bit of flour until smooth.

Roll out pastry on baking paper (no chilling required) and line 23cm tart tin with it.  (Grease tin if required.  Mine is non-stick.)  If the pastry doesn't quite reach the tops of the sides of the tin, use hands to gently press outwards so that it goes a little further up the sides.  Prick pastry with a fork and bake for 10 minutes.  It should have dried out a little but still be very pale.  Set aside.

Once pastry crust is lightly baked, turn up the oven to 200 C.

Vegetable mixture:
Heat oil in a large frypan over medium high heat and fry tofu bacon until brown and crispy.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon.  Drain on kitchen towel and set aside.

Add onion to frypan and fry a few minutes until translucent.  Add remaining vegetables (from either version 1 or version 2) except spinach and or broccolini florets.  Fry for 5 to 10 minutes until vegetables are soft and slightly charred.  If using broccolini add the chopped florets a minute or two towards the end.  If using spinach stir it through the vegetables once removed from the heat.  Set aside.

Tofu/Besan Filling:
Mix besan and oil to make a thick paste in a medium saucepan.  Cook briefly over low heat until it dries and becomes a blob.  Gradually add milk a little at a time, stirring to incorporate milk with each addition of milk.  Once all milk is mixed in to make a smooth mixture, add remaining ingredients except the tofu.  Increase heat and bring to the boil slowly until bubbling and thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add tofu and blend (I used a hand held blender in the saucepan.

To assemble and bake quiche:
Stir the vegetable mixture into the tofu/besan mixture.  Tip into lightly baked pie crust.  Bake quiche for about 40 minutes or until top is golden brown and set.  A knife or skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.  Sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. 

On the stereo:
Costello Music: The Fratellis