This vegan quiche recipe is gluten free and can be nut-free if you swap the cashews for sunflower seeds. Filled with asparagus, leek and mushrooms, it's the perfect spring dinner.
Vegan quiche!! This might be the most excited I've been about a recipe in a while. No, I'm lying, I was pretty damn excited about my Vegan Creme Eggs a few weeks ago. And my No Bake Snickers Bars before that.....
But suffice to say I AM excited about this asparagus and leek quiche recipe. I used to eat quiche all the time growing up in the UK and it's one of the foods I've missed the most since going vegan.
There's just something so comforting about pastry with a creamy vegetable filling, and I particularly love the way this quiche encompasses the spring flavours of asparagus, leeks and mushrooms.
I particularly wanted to make this quiche crust gluten free and from whole food ingredients, which made the recipe doubly challenging to create!
I'm so pleased with this oat crust though. This pastry recipe was originally inspired by Dexotinista's Vegan Pie Crust which was so good, I had to create my own savoury version for this!
I really hope you love this eggless quiche as much as I do. It's been a labour of love to put it together, but I genuinely feel it encompasses the textures and flavours of a traditional quiche well, while being completely vegan and made from whole foods. Enjoy!
ASPARAGUS & LEEK VEGAN QUICHE - RECIPE NOTES
Delicate crust - One thing to note about this oat crust is that it can be a little crumbly. It holds together well enough, but do be aware it's a little more delicate than regular wheat pastry, so be patient with it! If the crust cracks when you're rolling it out, simply plug the hole with a little excess pastry.
Arrowroot powder - One important note: the arrowroot is essential in this recipe to make the pastry hold together! You can sub it for tapioca starch instead if you don't have it, but it's very important to use one of these otherwise your pastry will be super crumbly.
Blind baking - Finally, unlike regular wheat pastry, this quiche crust doesn't need to be baked 'blind' (where you cover the crust with tinfoil and place a weight on top to stop the pastry rising as it cooks), as it won't rise much. For this reason, it's quicker and simpler to make than regular pastry!
Check out my web story showing you how to make this vegan quiche.
FAQS
Quiche is usually made with eggs and cheese in the filling. For this vegan version, I've substituted cashews, sunflower seeds and a little chickpea flour for the eggs and cheese to create a similar texture. I've also used nutritional yeast to give the quiche a slightly 'cheesy' flavour.
A green salad or steamed veggies go really well with it. Baked potatoes, or potato wedges are also a great addition. (See my linked suggestions of side dishes below the recipe.)
You can! This will make the recipe nut-free. If you do this be aware that sunflower seeds have a different taste to cashews - less creamy. They will also make your quiche filling look slightly grey due to their colour!
Asparagus & Leek Vegan Quiche (gluten free)
Special Equipment
- High speed blender
- quiche pan
- small frying pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1½ cups oats
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, chilled (you can use vegan butter if it's easier to find where you are)
- ¼ cup water, chilled
For the cream filling
- ⅓ cup cashews
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds (feel free to use all cashews if you prefer, I just like to make the recipe a little cheaper by using some sunflower seeds)
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon chickpea flour
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup boiling water
For the vegetables
- 16 asparagus spears (cut about ¼ of these spears into 1-inch pieces, and set the rest aside)
- ½ small leek, sliced thinly
- 4 small crimini or chestnut mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
Instructions
To make crust
- Preheat oven to 350F/175°C. Chill a large mixing bowl in the fridge.
- Line the bottom of a 9-inch quiche pan with parchment paper. Use a little coconut oil to grease sides.
- In a high speed blender, blend the oats on high until they form a smooth flour (about 30 seconds). Blend until flour is as fine as possible.
- To your large mixing bowl, add oat flour, sea salt and arrowroot. Mix with a metal spoon to combine ingredients.
- Remove hardened coconut oil from fridge and using hands, quickly rub it into flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs (we're doing this quickly so that the oil melts as little as possible).
- Add water to the bowl and mix in well using a metal spoon. Use hands to quickly shape mixture into a ball of dough.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on a flat surface, and place dough on top. Place another sheet of parchment paper over it.
- Using a rolling pin, roll dough out until it is about an inch wider than your pie dish on all sides and roughly 6mm thick.
- Remove top layer of parchment paper and place quiche pan upside down on top of pastry. Gently but quickly flip over so pastry is on top of the pan! (Be careful during this part, as it can be crumbly. If pastry breaks, don't worry - it should be fixable in the next step!)
- Remove remaining layer of parchment paper, and very gently press pastry into pie dish, ensuring it reaches the corners. If you get any cracks, use a piece of excess pastry from the edge to fill it.
- Using a flat knife, cut the edge of the pastry around the rim of the dish so you have a nice clean crust. (You will likely end up with a little to spare - feel free to use this as you wish!)
- Bake crust in oven for 20 minutes, until it feels solid and crust is starting to come away from the pan (but before it turns golden).
- Remove and allow it to cool in its pie dish for 10 minutes.
To make filling
- While the crust is still baking, add all cream filling ingredients to high speed blender and blend until totally smooth. Set aside.
- Add the chopped asparagus spears (reserve whole ones for later), mushrooms and leek to a small frying pan with a tablespoon of water and cook for 5 minutes until vegetables are tender, stirring constantly (the water will act like oil and stop the vegetables sticking).
- Add garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
To assemble
- Spread cashew cream filling evenly over quiche crust.
- Pour cooked vegetables on top, and gently stir into cream until they're mostly covered.
- Layer remaining asparagus spears over top of quiche, trimming as needed to fit pan (you can poke trimmed offcuts into quiche filling to cook).
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes, until asparagus spears look cooked and crust is starting to brown.
- Remove and allow to rest in quiche pan for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please leave a comment or tip for others below. I'd love to know how you’ve made it your own!
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