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Vegan Chickpea Flour Quiche with Courgette, Olives and Tomatoes (Gluten-Free)

A crisp gluten-free olive oil pastry filled with a savoury chickpea flour custard, courgette and black olives, topped with fresh tomatoes. A vegan brunch that slices well cold for the next day.

Breakfast

85

Serves 6 (1 slice each)

A golden vegan quiche topped with courgette rounds, black olives and fresh diced tomato on a wooden board, with a cake slice, a knife and two slices on small plates

Ingredients

  • For the pastry: 160g/5½oz/1¼ cups gluten-free plain flour blend (one that contains xanthan gum)
  • 4 tbsp (60ml) extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and about 4 tbsp (60ml) cold water
  • For the filling: 180g/6oz/1½ cups chickpea flour (gram flour or besan)
  • 400ml/1⅔ cups cold water
  • 15g/3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • Half a tsp ground turmeric, half a tsp salt and black pepper; a pinch of black salt (kala namak) for an eggy flavour, optional
  • 1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil
  • 1 small onion (about 100g/3½oz), finely chopped
  • 1 courgette (zucchini, about 200g/7oz), thinly sliced into rounds
  • 40g/1½oz pitted black olives, sliced into rings
  • To serve: 150g/5oz ripe tomatoes, diced, and a few basil leaves

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan, 375F). Mix the flour and salt, stir in the 4 tablespoons of oil, then add the cold water a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Gluten-free pastry is fragile: roll it out between two sheets of baking paper (parchment paper) to about 3mm/⅛in thick and line a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed tart tin, pressing any cracks together with your fingers.
  2. Prick the base with a fork, line with baking paper and baking beans or uncooked rice and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for 5 minutes more, until pale golden and dry.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk the chickpea flour with the water, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt, pepper and black salt, if using, until smooth. Leave to stand while the pastry bakes.
  4. Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat and cook the onion for 8 minutes, until soft. Add half the courgette rounds and cook for 3 minutes. Stir the onion and courgette into the batter.
  5. Pour the filling into the pastry case and arrange the rest of the courgette rounds and the olives on top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set and springs back when pressed in the centre, and a knife pushed into the middle comes out clean.
  6. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes; it firms up as it cools and slices more cleanly. Top with the tomatoes and basil and cut into 6 slices.
  7. Without the tomato topping, it keeps covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Eat cold or reheat slices in the oven until hot through. Not suitable for freezing, as the pastry softens.

Why it works

A slice gives you about 10g of protein and 5g of fibre for 350 calories. Most of the protein comes from the chickpea flour.

How it sets without eggs. Chickpea flour mixed with water thickens and sets when it is baked, much like an egg custard. Nutritional yeast adds a savoury depth, turmeric gives the golden colour, and a pinch of black salt, which is rich in sulphur, gives a mild eggy flavour.

Who it is for. It is free from eggs, dairy, soya, nuts and gluten as written, which makes it a good fit for all of those diets at once.

Why it is not tagged for blood sugar. The gluten-free pastry is made mostly from refined rice and potato flours, so a slice has 39g of carbohydrate with only modest fibre. Serve it with a large green salad to balance the meal.

Check that the gluten-free flour blend, the chickpea flour and the nutritional yeast are labelled gluten-free. Some blends contain buckwheat or lupin, so check the label if you are allergic to them. For another chickpea flour breakfast, try the besan chilla.