I’m always trying to think of new meals I can cook in advance, ideally something that makes a good addition to the next day’s lunch box as well. Lasagne for example or soup OR QUICHE! This recipe isn’t as involved as you might think at the first glance, the pastry takes 5mins and in terms of the veggies you can chose anything you like, as long as you briefly boil or steam broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and the likes. Chose a calcium set tofu to boost the kid’s calcium intake and don’t forget to add a pinch of turmeric to give your quiche this gorgeous yellow colour. Tastes great warm or cold, as part of a meal or as finger food (I'm thinking picnics), this crust won’t let you down.
What you need:
For the crust:
280g wholemeal flour
50ml olive oil
150ml water
1½ tsp salt
For the filling:
600g tofu – I use a calcium set tofu that comes in liquid rather than a super firm one, although this will work as well, you’ll just have to add a little more soy milk. Don’t squeeze the excess liquid out like you normally would, only drain what’s in the pack.
3-4tbsp nutritional yeast
3tsp corn starch
1½tsp garlic granules
¾tsp turmeric
Salt to taste – I use approx. 2tsp
50ml unsweetened soy milk – or a little more if you use firm tofu
Vegetables I used:
1 medium carrot – peeled, cut into chunks and boiled or steamed until relatively soft
½ small broccoli – cut into small florets and the stalk into small cubes or sticks. Boiled or steamed until relatively soft
½ red pepper – cut into slices or cubes
½ yellow pepper – cut into slices or cubes
6 cherry tomatoes – halved
Some fresh parsley – roughly chopped
Some fresh thyme
Other veggies that work well:
Peas
Sweetcorn
Spinach - wilted
Cauliflower – steamed or boiled
Romanesco – steamed or boiled
Mushrooms - fried
How you do it:
Preheat the oven at fan 180C.
Start by chopping the veg, briefly boiling/steaming what’s necessary.
Onto the crust.
In a large bowl mix flour and salt, then slowly pour in the olive oil mixing everything with a spoon.
Slowly pour the water into the crumbly mix stirring thoroughly until you get a smooth dough.
Briefly knead the dough using your hands, before evenly rolling it out using a rolling pin.
Make sure it’s big enough, you want about 2-3cm around the side.
Transfer the dough into an ovenproof dish, I always use a cake tin to make sure the bottom bakes well.
Transfer all ingredients for the filling (minus the veg) to a food processor and blend until very smooth.
The consistency should resemble quark/ ricotta (if you remember what that looks like), basically like something you could easily spread on bread without it running off the sides.
Using a spatula spread half of your tofu filling onto the pastry, then scatter over half of the veg and most of the parsley and thyme using the less decorative bits like the broccoli stalk and smaller bits of pepper etc.
Keep some of the nicest broccoli florets, pepper slices and the cherry tomato halves for the top.
Spread the rest of the filling over the top, then decorate with the remaining veg.
Bake for 40-45mins or until the crust feels firm and the top looks golden.
Leave to cool down until just warm, then serve with a side salad or potatoes and greens for a more substantial meal.
