When I think about making a quiche recipe — specifically a vegetarian quiche recipe — I always feel a little apprehensive. Maybe it’s an association with those fancy Francophile snacks with teacups and spoons, or the idea of working with Exquisite pastries and custard. Not only do you have to perfect the taste, but between the crust, texture and filling, a lot of elements need to be perfected.
But friends, fear not! After many trials in the vast world of Quiche, I have discovered the details of the dish so you don’t have to. For this vegetarian quiche recipe, I relied on my best recipe spring production (specifically three onions to please my allium fans out there). However, feel free to use the recipe below as a guide and adjust to your own taste and preference. Ready to bake? Your route to the best vegetarian quiche recipe awaits.
What Is The Secret To Making Delicious Quiche?
It starts with the crust, folks. And when it comes to making your best quiche ever, you can’t go wrong with a classic pastry crust. I love its buttery flakiness, but really, when it comes to your crust for this vegetarian quiche recipe, you have endless options.
I used phyllo dough because that’s what I have in the freezer and thought I might give it a try too. But I’ve also seen people use thinly sliced or chopped potatoes as well as sweet potatoes for the crust. Here are some tips no matter which adventure you choose.
Classic pastry shell
You need to bake the crust. Partial baking (i.e. partially cooking the crust before filling) ensures your quiche won’t have a soggy bottom. If you’re not familiar with the term, the soggy bottom occurs because the custard filling stays in the crust as the cake bakes.
To bake, line the unbaked crust with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Balance the weight of the cake or the dry beans so they don’t swell. Depending on the crust, you’ll bake with the weight for about 10 minutes. Remove the dumbbells and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Par-baking is done when the underside of the crust looks nice and golden.
Phyllo’s crust
I got the phyllo error the first time I tried it for my quiche. I didn’t let the bottom bake long enough, resulting in the bottom being undercooked. If you want to use phyllo, oil or line a plate so the dough doesn’t stick to the pan. Then fold and overlap the sheets of phyllo dough until the entire sheet is covered. I use about seven or eight sheets of phyllo, flipping and lining each additional sheet clockwise until the entire cake plate is covered. I left the two sheets of paper open to help prevent leakage from the custard between the layers. As an extra layer of protection, I sprinkled parmesan on the bottom to create another layer of padding.
Bake each portion until golden on top and bottom of crust. To avoid overcooking the edges while the custard solidifies, I made the hats out of foil. It’s basically a nice way of saying that I wrap the edges of the cake with foil after the crust is filled so they don’t overcook and burn.
Vegetable peels
I made a few quick dishes with vegetables for the crust (like this one with potato skins). As with other crusts, you’ll want to bake them first to make sure the vegetables are fully cooked before filling.
How to Choose Vegetables for Your Quiche
For this vegetarian quiche recipe, I wanted to incorporate some of my favorite spring flavors. As I alluded to above, here’s my full vegetarian quiche recipe. With caramelized garlic plus three different types of onions (yellow onion, leek, and steep onion), I wanted to accentuate the sweet and savory flavors. Combined with goat cheese and potatoes, the result is nothing short of amazing.
Should you cook vegetables first?
It’s correct! This is the most important thing when making quiche. You should pre-cook vegetables to ensure as much water is removed as possible. This will keep your custard from becoming watery and mushy. My secret to minimizing dishes and proactive cooking time? Cook all your vegetables on a paper tray.
Since it takes longer to cook the potatoes, I microwave the potatoes first until they are soft. Then I put the baked potatoes, leeks, and onions on a paper tray for the longest time in the oven. Because I want the ramp and green carpet of the ramp to continue to be soft, I’ve been adding them to the paperwork tray for the last 10 minutes. You can use the same instructions for any vegetables you decide to use.
The amount of filling is completely up to you. Some people like to leave their custard glossy and just add a little filling. Others want ALL their quiche fillings and uploads. I like a little more than a cup of filling with cheese for a regular cake pan and double for a deep cake pan.
Tips for filling your custard-apple
The custard for a quiche is made with eggs and milk. Some people like to use half and half or full fat cream mixed with milk, but I rarely (if ever) use both. To keep my vegetarian quiche recipe as accessible as possible, I used whole milk. I don’t recommend using skim milk or anything less than whole milk, as the added fat will give you a softer, creamier texture.
What is the best egg-to-milk ratio for your custard, you might ask? A quick internet search confirmed a 2:1 ratio as ideal. Admittedly I don’t like this recipe. I found that it produced a quiche that was too soft and wobbly. So I use two eggs for about 3/4 cup of milk for a firm but soft filling.
When it comes to baking, I recommend a regular-sized cake pan. Crispy meringues are delicious, but baking time can be quite long if you’re looking for a quick snack.
The final touch lets this vegetarian quiche recipe shine
To serve my quiche, I like to mix greens with sweet chickpeas and pickled onions with some lemon juice and olive oil. It adds a little bright and fresh flavor to quiche (because while it’s delicious, there’s no denying that your quiche won’t feel a bit greasy). Season well and you’ll impress everyone at the table!
