Gluten-free Simple Summer Quiche

Gluten-free Simple Summer Quiche

This gluten-free simple summer quiche is made with tomato, eggs and cream whipped up with a little salt, pepper and nutmeg, and baked in a naturally gluten-free buckwheat pie crust.

The original version of this used soya milk rather than single cream. Soya milk mixes very well with eggs – it’s a good substitute for cream in these sorts of recipes. I don’t use soya milk anymore. Some people say overconsumption can cause hypothyroidism sometimes … I don’t know if that’s the case but I avoid it now.

I had to have two goes at this to get it right. The first time I made the pastry with gluten-free plain white flour mix, butter and water. It had a sandyish texture that I really didn’t like – I was actually going to post it anyway and just moan about how terrible non-wheat flours are – sorry it’s just baking is so much easier with wheat flour. It’s easier and it usually tastes better. When I make it.

I have bought loads of gluten-free products that taste great. You wouldn’t even know they’re gluten-free. I must be doing something wrong. But anyway… I decided it’s ok to have a not-so-great Shepherd’s Pie post but damnit that has to be the end of meh-I-made-it-here-it-is posts.

So I wondered what I could add to flour to make it taste more moist and buttery – and like a pastry should. Then I started thinking about the Lemon Meringue Pie and how I could make that pastry better. And I started wondering if I could mix chestnut flour with buckwheat flour.

Then I checked if people ever made pastry with just buckwheat. And of course they do. Look at this slice of loveliness. And then I remembered that what I actually wanted to make today was a quiche so I tried making the crust for the quiche with buckwheat, butter and water. The result was definitely an improvement.

Did you know buckwheat is good for you? It’s apparently very good for you. It’s full of fibre and B vitamins and a whole load of good stuff. Also it seems to have some sort of binding agent because it’s easy to shape the dough and roll it out – as easy as wheat flour.

That said I’m not in ectasies about this pastry – it’s just a very good, easy to make substitute for a wheat quiche crust. It’s not amazing but then in a quiche it’s really about the egg and whatever, the pastry is just what encases it. I like this buckwheat flour version and if I make a quiche again I’ll be using this pastry. I kind of want to add minced black olives to it and see what that would be like… But I’m happy enough with this as it is. And I’m definitely going to be trying out more stuff with buckwheat.

Just about the original recipe the correct measurements should be 125g plain white flour, 80g salted butter, a little water, 2 very large eggs, 100ml soya milk, 1 or 2 tomatoes sliced thinly, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. It makes an 7″ quiche.

This gluten-free version makes an 8″ quiche. And it really is a super simple quiche – and totally tasty too.

Ingredients for gluten-free simple summer quiche
Buckwheat, butter, water, tomatoes, eggs, cream, salt, pepper & nutmeg.

Gluten-free Simple Summer Quiche

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Serves 2 - 4

Gluten-free Simple Summer Quiche

Ingredients

    For the pastry
  • 150g buckwheat flour
  • 90g cold salted butter, _diced)
  • 2 dessertspoons cold water
  • For the filling
  • 3 large eggs
  • 175g single cream
  • 2 small-medium tomatoes, sliced
  • salt
  • pepper
  • good pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

    To make the pastry
  1. Turn on the oven to 180C and grease an 8" pie or quiche dish or tin.
  2. Add the flour and butter to a food processor. Blend until all the butter has mixed in with the flour and the flour should have a slightly crumby or damp looking consistency. With the motor still running, add the water in through the top of the food processor until the dough clumps together. With normal wheat flour the dough will often clump together and form a ball - this doesn't seem to happen with gluten-free flours. So you need to scrape out the dough and work it together with your hands - this is very easy with buckwheat - and very messy with gf plain white flour mixes.
  3. When you have your ball of dough, put it in a bowl and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes to make it more solid and easier to shape and roll out.
  4. Dust a work surface with some gf plain white flour mix or rice flour and roll out the dough to fit the shape of your baking dish. Line the greased tin with the pastry and cut off the excess. Cover the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the dough has hardened into a crust.
  5. Take out, leave to cool for a few minutes and then remove the paper and beans.
  6. For the quiche filling
  7. Beat the eggs with some salt and pepper, then mix in the cream and grate over some nutmeg.
  8. Pour the egg mix into the pastry case then arrange the tomato slices around. The egg mix should almost reach the top of the pastry case so be careful when transferring to the oven. Cook for another 20 minutes or until the egg filling is just solid.
  9. Serve with a crispy salad and a baked potato. Enjoy!
http://twimii.com/recipes/gluten-free-simple-summer-quiche/

buckwheat dough
When you make dough with normal flour in a food processor it clumps into a ball. This doesn’t seem to happen with gluten-free stuff. But scrape it out of the bowl and mash it together and you’ll get your ball of dough.
ready to roll
Use plain gluten-free flour or rice flour to dust the surface where you’ll roll out the dough.
Trim off the excess dough. I like to make a tiny little tart for myself with the leftovers :~) (cheese & tapenade here)
ready to bake
Place a sheet of baking paper over the dough and fill with baking beans so the crust will keep its shape.
baked
One of the nice things about using the leftover dough to make a little treat for yourself is that you can kind of tell when the pastry is done just by looking at it.

If when you remove the paper and bean the pie crust looks a little damp just pop it back in the oven for another couple of minutes – without the paper and beans.

quiche pre bake
When the crust is baked, pour in the egg and cream mix, and arrange the tomato slices .

 

gluten-free simple summer quiche
Gluten-free simple summer quiche – just tomato, eggs and cream whipped up with a little salt, pepper and nutmeg, and baked in buckwheat crust.
Slice of quiche with some salad and a baked potato.
Slice of quiche with some salad and a baked potato.

This is a very simple and very yummy quiche filling. But the buckwheat and walnut pie crust in the wild garlic quiche is best. So maybe just pair the two together?