Autumn has arrived and outside it is grey, rainy and blustery; the perfect weather for staying inside and enjoying culinary adventures. Curled up on my comfy couch, I started thinking back to my visit to Paris a few weeks back. A special trip with many memorable experiences. Basically I ate my way across Paris: macaroons, croissants, steak tartar, Berthillon ice cream (more macaroons) and fabulous bistro dinners. I even took a piece of Paris home with me in the shape of a quiche.
So I decided to celebrate that memory by baking a quiche. At the same time I had enough butter and cream during that trip to last me…well until my next visit to Paris. So I thought I would go for a healthier and slightly less conventional quiche. I used one of my favourite crust recipes; it comes together in no time, contains hardly any fat and uses part rye flour. But really it is the filling that transforms this quiche into a healthy little dish.
Ingredients
(hardly altered from the blog ‘veggies on the counter’)
Two 15cm quiches (you could do one large, but I prefer a little more crust to go with the distinct flavour of the filling)
For the crust recipe click here
Roasted vegetables
350g shallots
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
salt
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
350g cherry tomatoes
1 tsp muscovado sugar
Tofu custard
500g firm tofu
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp (lemon) thyme
Pepper
Recipe
- Make the crust from this quiche recipe. It takes about 30-40 min or can be made the day ahead.
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Cut shallots into halves or quarters. Place in a baking dish that is large enough so the pieces do not touch each other. Sprinkle with the balsamic, a little oil and salt. Toss carefully and then turn the pieces cut side up.
- Throw in the garlic cloves (peel and all).
- Cut the tomatoes in half. In a separate dish, toss the tomatoes with the sugar and a little oil.
- Place both dishes in the oven for 25 min.
- Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Turn the oven down to 180C.
- For the custard, place the tofu, balsamic, soy, lemon juice, thyme and pepper in a food processor.
- Add half the tomatoes (including any juice).
- Pick the garlic out of the oven dish, peel and add to the tofu.
- Process the tofu mix, taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Place the shallots on the crust.
- Spread the tofu on top.
- Carefully press the tomatoes in, cut side up.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until the custard is set and golden.
Serve with
A leafy salad that is full of strong flavours and textures (red capsicum, blanched green beans, spring onions etc)