Summer vegetable quiche

Summer vegetable quiche is an attractive vegetarian quiche made with seasonal vegetables inside a homemade wholemeal pastry crust.

This colourful veggie quiche is perfect served for lunch or dinner alongside a salad and homemade bread such as no knead olive bread or rosemary focaccia. It is suitable for family meals, entertaining or dining alone and is also great for picnics and packed lunches.

The great thing about this easy vegetable quiche recipe is that it can be adapted to make use of whatever vegetables you have to hand and can be made all year round.

This vegetable quiche recipe is sufficient to make a 20cm diameter tart which is suitable for about 6 servings.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 230g plain wholemeal flour plus a little extra flour for rolling out - I have e used wholemeal flour for the pastry as I like the slightly nutty flavour it adds to the dish, although white flour can be substituted if you prefer or if you don't have wholemeal flour
• 115g butter - either salted or unsalted depending on your preference. I like the flavour that butter adds to pastry but a plant based margarine could be substituted if you prefer
• Sufficient water to bind the pastry - add a little at a time and take care not to add too much

For the filling:

• 5 tablespoons vintage or extra mature Cheddar cheese, grated - Cheddar is ideal for many cooked dishes, including quiches, and a strong flavoured cheese will add flavour to this dish
• A handful of sliced leeks - they do not need to be precooked
• 8 whole fine green beans - lightly steam the beans before adding to the other quiche ingredients
• 4 cherry tomatoes - cut in half
• 1 - 2 (depending on size) small or baby courgettes - thinly sliced, again, these do not need to be precooked
• 3 large eggs
• 125mm milk - use either full fat milk, semi skimmed or skimmed depending on your preference

How to prepare

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add sufficient water to bind to a dough, being careful not to add too much water and then leave to rest for about 30 minutes before rolling out. Roll out the pastry and line a 20cm (about 7.9 inches) loose bottomed flan dish.

Place the grated cheese and sliced leeks in the pastry case.

Arrange the green beans, cut cherry tomatoes and sliced courgettes on top of the bed of cheese and leeks.

Beat the eggs and milk together. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the pastry case taking care not to disturb the position of the arranged vegetables too much.

Place the unbaked quiche on a baking sheet and bake in the centre of the oven at gas mark 4, 180^oC, 350^oF for 30 to 40 minutes or until the filling has risen and is firm and golden. For an Aga, bake on the floor of the roasting oven for 10 minutes and then move to the centre of the oven until cooked.

Tips

1. Your summer vegetable quiche can be served warm shortly after being cooked, or can be left to cool, chilled and served cold.
2. Once it has cooled the quiche should be stored in the fridge.
3. This prepared quiche is not suitable for reheating.
4. The pastry case can be prepared ahead of time. It can be covered with plastic film and stored in the fridge until the next day or can be frozen. After freezing, the pastry case will defrost fairly quickly at room temperature.
5. If you don't have a loose bottomed flan dish you can use a ceramic pie dish instead. Simply cut a square of non-stick baking paper approximately 20cm by 20cm and place in the base of the flan dish before adding the pastry. The corners of the paper square should project a little bit above the pastry edges. When the quiche is cooked, carefully lift the corners of the paper to take the quiche out of the dish.

Substitutions

1. The pie crust can be made using white flour instead of wholemeal flour if you prefer, or can be made using a mixture of the two.
2. In this quiche recipe I have used a strong Cheddar cheese for its flavour and cooking qualities but other types of cheese could be substituted depending on your preference and what is available in your area, so long as it is suitable for cooking.
3. For other summer quiche ideas, other vegetables could be substituted or added such as sweet peppers, red onions, asparagus or mushrooms. If using peppers or onions it is a good idea to roast them first, and any asparagus should be lightly steamed before adding to the other quiche ingredients.

FAQs

Other vegetarian quiche recipes

Take a look at some other summer tart ideas.