Vegan Leek Quiche

I hope you sometimes manage to hit "stop" in this crazy race of life and take a moment to look around.

Have you noticed it's already summer?

Look how beautiful it is outside: that golden summer light at dusk, the summer fruits starting to fill the supermarket shelves, and the water at the beach just calling me in for a swim.

What does that mean?

It means the most beautiful holiday of the year is here—the Harvest Festival (Shavuot).

Wow, look at the poet I’ve become just in time for Shavuot; admit it, you’re moved. 🙂

In honor of my career as a poet and the Shavuot holiday, I’m sharing a wonderful recipe for a vegan leek quiche—easy to prepare, delicious, and made with ingredients you can find in almost any supermarket. Oh, and it won't break the bank.

The crust is made of whole-wheat flour and olive oil, containing a nice amount of dietary fiber and high-quality fatty acids that are stable during baking.

The filling contains tofu, which is rich in protein and calcium, low in fat, and provides a perfect creamy texture.

A few points about the recipe before we start:

Don’t be afraid of making the crust or handling dough. I’m right here with you, step by step. It’s truly child’s play 🙂

I use soft silken tofu (the red package). If you can't find silken tofu, you can use a slightly firmer texture, and if there’s no other choice, regular tofu will also work just fine.

Note that this quiche has a strong onion flavor. If you aren't a fan of that, you might want to skip this one. I promise to upload a different quiche recipe very soon.

How to serve?

The recipe fits a small 20 cm quiche pan and can be cut into 8 slices.

Each slice contains:

Vegan Leek Quiche

Prep time 20 minutes

Cook time 40 minutes

Total time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

For the crust

• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar can also be silan or any other sweetener you like
• 2 cups whole wheat flour can also use rye or spelt flour. *Do not use gluten-free flours like pea or lentil flour*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup uncooked chickpeas or beans for pie weights while baking the dough (not for eating)

For the filling

• 1 large leek
• 1 large onion
• 350 g silken tofu package (red) or regular tofu + a bit of soy milk
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic

Instructions

1. Start with the crust
2. In a deep bowl, mix the flour with baking powder and sugar.
3. Add the olive oil and boiling water, and mix until a uniform dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. Prepare the filling:
5. Cut the onion in half.
6. Slice one half and sauté with one tablespoon of olive oil until browned; set aside.
7. In a food processor, blend the silken tofu (or regular tofu with a bit of soy milk) with the soy milk, garlic clove, and the other onion half until smooth. Set aside.
8. After the dough has chilled for an hour, roll it out with a rolling pin on a work surface to a thickness of 0.5 cm.
9. Preheat oven to medium heat (180°C).
10. Place the dough into a well-greased baking pan.
11. To transfer the dough intact to the pan: I roll it onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the pan.
    
12. Trim excess edges.
    
13. Prick the dough slightly with a fork.
14. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough and weigh it down with chickpeas (the goal is to prevent the dough from rising so it stays thin).
15. Blind bake for 10 minutes.
16. Remove from the oven, and discard the chickpeas and parchment paper.
17. Assemble the quiche: spread a layer of the sautéed onion and pour the tofu mixture over it.
18. Slice the leek into rounds and arrange them on top of the quiche.
    
19. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top and bake for about 40 minutes.
20. Cool completely before removing from the pan.