This Asparagus & Ham Vegan Quiche is great as a party food for occasions such as Easter or as a main course with a side any time of the year.
Questa ricetta è disponibile anche in italiano
I'm pretty confident this vegan quiche will do away with any scepticism you might have about this humble dish needing eggs as it packs all the eggy creamy flavour and crunchy textures from the crust that you would expect it to have.
This recipe caters many dietary needs, such as gluten free as well as plant based, and will have your guests wondering how you achieved such an authentic taste and you will find as you read through this recipe that the secrets are not hard to recreate and this can be made by anyone.
Most of the ingredients required you will have already in your cupboards at home or are easily accessible from local shops:
– vegan ham alternative literally choose the one that works the best for you (I used a brand called Quorn, for those interested);
– plant based milk – I used soy milk, but any plant milk in its unsweetened form works fine;
– chickpea flour largely available in any supermarket or online.
– corn starch (or flour) available in supermarkets or online.
– kala namak aka black salt essential for the eggy flavour, available in most Asian shops, health/organic shops, or simply online as well.
– turmeric which you can easily find in pretty much any food shop in the spice aisle, not essential but suggested to give the quiche a pale yellow-ish colour.
How to make vegan quiche (Plant based Quiche)
First thing is to start with the crust. You can make your own or buy a ready made one.
Making your own pastry is pretty simple and straightforward, and it only requires 3 ingredients: flour, vegan butter and cold water. To learn how to make a perfect shortcrust pastry you can follow this recipe.
Once we have our pastry sorted we can move onto the next step which is to blind bake the crust. To do this simply roll the pastry out to about ½ cm thick and place over your tart tins. These measurements are for 4 individual 5-inch pie tarts or 1 28 cm tart tin. I'm making individual pies, so I will cut my dough into 4 portions and roll out four discs to lay over the tart tins. Then simply press the pastry making sure to fill the dish and then prick with a fork. We are cooking these in the air fryer so no baking beans are necessary for the blind bake although if you don’t have an air fryer and are cooking these in the oven baking beans will be required.
Why do we blind bake pastry and is it needed?
It is indeed a necessary step to do and one that can’t be skipped if you want the perfect crust. It aids in keeping the base of the pastry crunchy when cooked instead of turning made soggy from the filling. No one likes a soggy bottom. It also aids in cooking the food equally if for example the filling requires less cooking time than the pastry
In the meantime we can start preparing the filling.
All we need to do is to fry the vegan ham in a pan until crispy (it’s up to you if you want to put some extra oil in the pan, for the one I used I don’t think it’s necessary), then set it aside and allow it to cool for a bit. You need to also gently sauté the chopped asparagus in a bit of oil for 5 minutes and then set aside.
Next we can pour all the liquids and the spices in a food processor bowl and blend it all together for a few seconds until smooth and creamy.
Cook the pierced base for 10 minutes, or until golden brown at 200° C (390°F) in the air fryer. There’s no need to add the beans or weight.
Cover the base with the crispy ham and asparagus mixture, then top it with the creamy filling. Sprinkle over the quiches some vegan parmesan and a touch of black pepper to taste. Air fry one last time for 10-13 minutes at 180°C (255°F) this time.
The quiches will be ready when the filling turns golden and slightly set to the touch.
Asparagus & Ham Vegan Quiche Recipe
Ingredients:
…for the crust…
300 g Gluten Free Flour Mix
150 g Vegan Butter
9 tablespoon Cold Water (roughly)
1 pinch of Sea Salt
…for the filling…
200 g Asparagus (chopped into 1 cm pieces)
50 g Vegan Ham (GF; - roughly chopped )
420 g Plant Based Milk (Soy)
20 g Vegan Grated Cheese (or more to taste)
15 g Chickpea Flour
15 g Corn Starch
15 g Brown Sugar
15 g Vegetable Oil
5 g Nutritional Yeast
3 g Kala Namak (Black Salt)
2 g Turmeric
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
Method:
1. Make the pastry by working the the flour, the salt and the vegan butter with by hands or using a food processor until reaching a coarse breadcrumbs texture. Slowly add as much cold water as required to bind the dough together.
2. Roll the pastry ½ cm thick and arrange onto 4 individual 5-inch pie trays . If the mixture is too crumbly, make some patch work inside the tray until you cover all the surface. Pierce the surface with a fork.
3. If using the air fryer there's no need to use baking beans and simply blind bake for 10 minutes at 200°C/390° F. If using the traditional oven preheat it at 180°C/350° F, layer a foil sheet on top of the pastry, fill with dry beans or ceramic beans and blind bake for 15-20 minutes.
4. Fry the vegan ham in a pan until crispy and gently sauté the asparagus in a bit of oil for 5 minutes until tender, season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
5. In a food processor add: milk, chickpea flour, corn starch, dark sugar, vegetable oil, black salt, turmeric, nutmeg and pepper. Blend until smooth.
6. Now the case is blind baked, spread the crispy vegan ham over the bottom of the pastry, and sprinkle your choice of grated vegan cheese or nutritional yeast over it.
7. Carefully pour in the filling and bake at 180°C/350° F for 10 minutes in the air fryer or for 25-30 minutes in the oven. The filling should result golden and slightly set to the touch.
8. Before serving, wait at least another 10 minutes for the filling to completely set, then remove the quiche from the mould.
This vegan asparagus and ham quiche can be enjoyed warm, at room temperature or even chilled.
You can store the quiche in the fridge up to 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Did you like this recipe? Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to my mail list and to follow @avegtastefromatoz on Instagram or Facebook!
…or you can PIN the following image for later!
This recipe is also suitable for home freezing.
For other inspiring vegan baked goods do not miss:
- Turtle Brioche Bread Buns
- Vegan Quiche Lorraine
- Homemade Speedy Pizza
- Fluffy Courgette Stuffed Brioche Bread
- Easy Homemade Pitta Bread
- Ratatouille Pizza Bites
- Quarantine Vegan Croissants (not the classic recipe)
- Vegan Casatiello - Italian Stuffed Bread
- Pull Apart Stuffed Brioche Bread
- Homemade Naans
- Mediterranean Empanadas
- Classic Focaccia Barese
- Taralli Pugliesi
Leave a Reply