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Ideal for parties and picnics, for lunchboxes, or simply to eat at home for an al fresco lunch, my gluten-free vegan mushroom and leek quiche is so deliciously creamy, you’ll have a hard time telling it apart from its egg-based counterpart! It’s soy- and nut-free too!
 

Quiche is not something I have ever craved, not least because I just haven’t ever been a fan of eggs and eggy things. In fact, egginess is pretty much guaranteed to make me heave. I put this down to, as a small child, being force-fed a boiled egg by my mother (who also loathed eggs)… and my ensuing vomnami.

However, vegan quiche is one of the things my customers most request; in fact, I estimate that during the past year, I’ve made around 150 of these quiches, as well as probably 20 or so of my sun-dried tomato and asparagus quiche.

Why did I develop another vegan quiche recipe? Simply because several people requested a no-soy version, so I decided that rather than just replace the tofu element of my other quiche, I might as well make a completely different one

Gluten-Free Vegan Quiche

I have a handful of customers who are gluten-free, so the pastry crust for this vegan quiche is made with a gluten-free flour blend. I really like this wholegrain one from Vicki, over at The Gluten-Free Fairy. If you don’t want a gluten-free blend which doesn’t contain rice flour, then this is the one for you. If you’re not bothered, there are several commercial g-f flour blends on the market – Doves Farm make a range of good ones, for example.

Or you could use the gluten-free pastry crust from my other vegan quiche recipe!

Of course, if you’re fine with gluten, you can make the pastry however you like. I love robust flours, such as spelt and rye.

Vegan Quiche Fillings

Mushroom and leek is one of my all-time favourite flavour combinations; I love the rich umami taste of the mushrooms, coupled with the light oniony flavour of the leeks, as well as their creamy texture. I don’t use a whole lot of seasoning when sautéing the vegetables, just a bit of garlic to enhance the taste.

Another favourite combination is red pepper and aubergine. I use an onion instead of leeks, and sauté it together with some diced aubergine (eggplant) and Romano peppers, along with a small handful of torn fresh basil and a couple of sprigs each of rosemary, thyme, and oregano. The quiche is topped off with halved cherry tomatoes and slices of pepper, or asparagus spears.

Replacing the egg in a vegan quiche

As you’ll know from my sun dried tomato and asparagus quiche recipe…. what do you mean you haven’t looked at it? Go and read it now – it has a cute pic of Newt Scamander too! Go on, I can wait.

OK, so as you WILL NOW KNOW ? from reading my other quiche recipe, you can use tofu to replace the egg in a quiche; however, for those who are soy-free, chickpea flour is a great alternative. In fact, no, it’s a fantastic ingredient in its own right, and is used around the world in many diverse dishes, such as farinata in Italy (socca in France), bhaji in India, and to make tofu in Myanmar (Burma). To name but a few.

In fact, Shan tofu salad is one of my all-time favourite foods, and the best I’ve ever eaten was at the Burmese noodle cart outside the immigration office in Chiang Mai. Whenever we had to go and extend our visas (waiting for hours to be seen), afterward, we’d reward ourselves with a big bowl of tofu salad. It was always heavenly!

Using chickpea flour in vegan quiche

Since I’m used to making Burmese tofu with chickpea flour (AKA garbanzo bean flour), it wasn’t a huge leap to use a similar method to make vegan quiche. I just added a few seasonings, and voilà, perfect vegan quiche filling!

The first few times I made this quiche, I mixed the veggies with the chickpea batter, tipped the whole lot into my pastry case (which I’d baked blind for 15 minutes), and then cooked it. It was utterly delicious but it wasn’t the most attractive quiche I’d ever seen, and the the toppings got lost, so now I layer it. On the bottom is the veg and chickpea batter, and on top of that is a plain, seasoned batter, followed by the toppings. So much more visually appealing!

BTW, you may be wondering why, when I don’t care for the flavour of eggs, I use kala namak.. does it not impart an eggy taste? Well, no, not really. Yes, it has that sulphurous aroma that you sometimes get with eggs but it doesn’t actually taste of eggs. It’s basically salt with a hint of sulphur. So why do I use it? Because it does enhance the flavour of the quiche, in a way that plain sea salt doesn’t. If you don’t want to use kala namak though, add an extra half a teaspoon of vegetable bouillon or Vegeta.

Vegan mushroom and leek quiche

Is…

• Creamy
• Comforting
• Filling
• Frugal
• Packed with protein
• Nutritious
• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Nut-free
• Easy to make
• Mind-blowingly delicious!

I usually serve this quiche with a selection of salads but I have to tell you that it goes very well with baked wedges too, especially of the sweet potato variety!

Bon apétit!

Do you enjoy vegan quiche? What would put in yours?