Yes , I know the title is quite a mouthful !
To recap what I myself didn’t know until recently : A quiche is a French style savoury tart which has a egg custard filled with bits of meat or veggies . It is a versatile, all-in-one kind of dish that can be served for brunch or lunch . Hot or cold.
I already have a Chicken tikka quiche on the blog. You should check that out if you have meat and eggs. If you don’t , this little vegetarian beauty here has you covered !
So what goes into making this eggless quiche ?
The tart shell : The pastry case or quiche base is a buttery flaky dough (shortcrust or pate brisee ) which simply has flour , salt, butter and water. Very easy to put together by food processor or hand (the way I did it). The dough needs to be chilled for a while and then prebaked or blind baked before we fill it and do the final bake.
The Filling : mushrooms are one of my favourite foods and for this quiche I paired them with onions and bell peppers. The filling is a basic Indian style stir fry where you caramelise the onions , and then sauté the bell peppers and mushrooms . Pepper is predominant in the spices used but you can adjust those to suit your tastebuds. There is also some cheese in the mix somewhere.
The custard / sauce : To my surprise , most quiche recipes online with vegetarian fillings still had a egg based custard. Replacing the eggs here was tricky. I tried corn flour and baking powder but wasn’t too happy. Akila ‘s idea of paneer ( cottage cheese) and milk worked well and I altered the proportions to get the texture I was looking for . From what I have read, silken tofu should work as well.
So you must have figured out by now that a quiche involves a bit of work and quite a few steps. But for the most part , its pretty simple work. For me the most annoying bit was blending the paneer and cream . It took a matter of seconds but I absolutely detest cleaning the blender !
What amused me that although this quiche has no eggs , it seemed to have almost every other form of dairy – butter , cream , milk , two kinds of cheeses !
Mushroom and bell pepper eggless quiche
Ingredients
For the pastry case / shell:
- 115 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold
- 160 grams or 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup ice cold water
For the filling :
- 200 grams button mushrooms
- 1 bell pepper or capsicum
- 1 large onion
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1 tablespoon oil to stir fry
For the custard :
- 100 grams or 1/2 cup paneer or cottage cheese
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup cream i used low fat
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
For the assembly :
- 50 grams or 1/4 cup shredded Mozarella cheese
Instructions
To make the pastry case :
- Chop up the butter and keep cold until using
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
- Add the cold , chopped butter and rub it into the flour ( pick up and rub between hands ) .
- Rub the butter in until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Basically , butter should be in small bits and covered by flour.
- Add the cold water bit by bit and mix until a dough forms. Just bring the dough together , there is no need to knead.
- Shape the dough into a disc , wrap it in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill for atleast an hour.
To make the filling :
- Slice the onions , mushrooms and capsicums
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the sliced onions ,and saute until golden brown.
- Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute until the raw smell disappears
- Add the bell pepper / capsicum and saute for a couple of minutes
- Add the sliced mushrooms and give it a good mix.
- Add all the spices and salt.
- Cook for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms are just cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
- Take off heat and cool before using.
To make the custard:
- Blend together the cottage cheese / paneer with the cream and milk.
- Mix in the salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly .
To make the quiche :
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F.
- Butter a 9 inch tart pan (preferably loose bottomed ).
- Roll out the dough on a well floured surface or on a piece of parchment to a circle about 12 inches in diameter
- Transfer the rolled out dough to the prepared tart pan.
- Press the dough to the bottom of the pan and also press it along the fluted edges.
- Using a sharp knife, run it along the entire edge of the tart pan to remove excess or overhanging dough.
- With a fork, poke holes all over the bottom.
- Place a sheet of foil or parchment over the bottom and fill with rice or beans. Fold the parchment inwards so the edge of the tart is exposed .
- Its easier to place the tart shell on a bigger pan or tray . It is more convenient to move in and out of the oven and also may catch any drips or overflow
- Bake for 15 minutes , then remove the sheet / foil with the weights and bake for another 10 minutes until the pastry is light brown.
- Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes
- Spread the cheese over the bottom of the tart case.
- Remove the excess water from the onion- bell pepper – mushroom stir fry and fill it into the tart
- Pour the custard over the filling. Do not fill right up to the brim as the filling may over flow in the oven.
- Return filled tart into oven and bake at 180 C / 350 F for 50 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned and the filling looks set
- Cool in pan and gently unmould
- Serve warm or cold !
Notes
I almost forgot to tell you how delicious this eggless quiche turned out to be . I will be the first to admit that the colours of it are less than appealing – but the flavours were spot on. The tart shell was buttery and crisp , the filling was creamy and the spicy mushroom – caramelised onion – bell pepper mix sealed the deal . A pretty good amalgamation of Indian flavours in an internationally acclaimed dish .
You can of course swap in veggies of your choice – make it your own !
Truly appreciate the way you made this delicious recipe. Everything is so nicely described that really helped me. I am looking forward for more such yummy recipes in future too.
Thank you so much !