A Vegetable and Paneer Quiche from Scraps

I have been fond of Quiche since the time I tasted it first during my visit to the US. It was 2007. My client’s office had a lovely cafeteria that served sumptuous food and huge portions. I always struggled trying to finished my portion which was almost always wasted despite my best efforts. I was a vegetarian back then and was pretty pleased to see ample options wherever I chose to dine in the US. Mexican by far, had endless options and the chef who was always eager to please, would easily convert a meat based dish into a vegetarian version to my delight. I have only fond memories of good food and lovely people in the US.

Fast forward, 2011 and I am still fond of Quiche and the incredible variations you can make of this exotic sounding humble dish. I have had meat based, vegetarian based and all sorts of Quiche. I also find it interesting that a Quiche could be easily devoured no matter, any time of the day or night. I could have a hearty breakfast with Quiche and some black coffee or break into a Quiche and salad lunch and last but not the least, an early supper with Quiche and some hearty soup. Wow! I can visualize all that spread already.

But I made this particular vegetarian version as  desperate breakfast attempt. We had just a day before we were to embark on a  3 week trip to London, and my refrigerator was stark naked. It is not a heartening sight since I always stock it up to the brim with wanted and unwanted stuff. Since the trip was planned, I made it a point to empty and use what was already there. I had just the amount of flour, some butter, some frozen vegetables and 4 eggs. I worked at dough to make the crust with some butter but soon found out why shortening was used usually. It was extremely difficult to make the crust but I did manage somehow after a lot of crumbling and breakouts.

The Recipe for Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour + a little more when you roll out to make the crust
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• dash salt
• 6 tablespoons butter( or substitute 3 Tbsp of shortening)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Filling

• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese ( I did not have any so I skipped this but inclusion of cheese would take it to new levels of gooey deliciousness)
• 1/2 cups frozen peas and diced carrots, beans cooked and well-drained
• 1/2 cup frozen paneer
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder(optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 4 eggs, beaten

Preparation:

• Combine flour, 1/4 teaspoon oregano.
• Cut in 3 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons shortening (or all butter like I did) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Sprinkle with the milk, one tablespoon at a time, mixing until dry ingredients are moistened. Shape dough into a ball. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to form a circle 12-inches in diameter.
• Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry; turn under edges and flute, forming a rather high rim.

For filling,

• Combine cheese, vegetables, flour,  salt, oregano, garlic powder, and pepper; gently toss.
• Place cheese mixture in bottom of pie crust. ( I skipped this)
• Melt butter in a skillet; saute onion until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle onion over cheese mixture.
• Combine milk and eggs; pour over cheese mixture.
• Add the paneer pieces
• Bake at 350° 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let vegetable Quiche stand 10 to 12 minutes before serving.

So all  the Quiche was devoured that day for Breakfast/Brunch, lunch and as an evening snack. All the time I enjoyed eating it, I wondered as to why I never tried making this incredibly easy Snack before. Made a mental note to try it with different combination such as zucchini and broccoli, chicken and paneer and much more.

I was really happy that I was able to use the scraps from my fridge and convert it into this delightful dish.

Tags: breakfast, quiche, savoury, vegetarian