I made a Vegan Quiche, similar to a quiche Lorraine, but I used vegan sausage instead of vegan bacon, and it turned out delicious. I used hot water pastry because it needs 30% less fat, so it’s healthier. The filling is a cheese sauce with red onion and sausages, which is delicious, as one can imagine.

For the pastry I used salted vegan butter, but you can use margarine or oil and a bit of salt. In the filling I’ve added a red onion as it was what I had and it also looks nice and a bit more colourful. As for the vegan sausage, I used 2 small sausages for the 4 quiches, from Marks and Spencer, in their Plant Kitchen range – no Chorizo puppies. Of course, any vegan sausage will work, one that is “meaty”, like Tofurky.

The Vegan Quiches are suitable as starters on their own or they can be enjoyed as a main if you have two or you make a salad and a side to go with them.

Ingredients for 4 Vegan Quiches:

for the pastry
– 165g plain white flour
– 55g salted vegan butter
– 70ml water
for the filling
– 1 red onion
– 20 ml + 1 spoon oil
– 1 sp plain white flour
– 150ml soya milk
– 40g vegan cheddar alternative
– 40g vegan mozzarella alternative
– 40g vegan blue cheese alternative
– oil for oiling the baking tins

Start by making the pastry. Boil the water with the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and take off the heat. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated. Let it cool so you can work with it.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, add the spoon of oil and toss in the chopped red onion. Stir often, so the onions do not burn. In another small frying pan, fry the sausages at low to medium temperature until they are cooked. Turn them a couple of times so they can cook evenly.

Heat the oven at 180C or 160C for fan assisted ovens.

If you can work with the pastry, roll it with a rolling pin at 4mm in thickness. Cut round shapes and put the pastry in the oiled quiche baking tins. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork. Put a sheet of baking paper and ceramic baking beans on top. Blind bake the pastry casings for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven, remove the baking paper and ceramic beans with care, and bake the casings on their own for another 5 to 7 minutes.

In a saucepan, put the oil and heat it up. Add the flour and stir to incorporate. Gradually pour the milk, stirring to incorporate. Remove from heat and add the cheese, stir so the cheese melts into the sauce mix. When the cheese has melted, add the red onion, and incorporate. Cut the sausage in slices and add them to the cheese sauce.

Fill the pastry with the cheese sauce. Put the quiches back into the oven and bake for another 20 minutes, turning them after 15 minutes, so they bake evenly. Leave them for a bit longer if you think is necessary.

Enjoy your Vegan Quiches!