Roasted *Mediterranean* vegetable quiche

Given the moreish sweetness of my last and first (but not first and last evidently) post I decided I needed something more wholesome to follow. I had only made vegan quiche once before and years ago using a crustless recipe from the fabulous www.fatfreevegan.com so I was keen to have another go and make it my own. Feeling very sunny and inspired by our blue skies of late I went for what I'm calling a *Mediterranean* flavour. More the sort of cooking I'm known for within my family this recipe has a wholegrain crust and no added sugar, served with some fresh salads it makes a great lunch or dinner. I think I may even have dispelled the local belief that my penchant for wholegrain and sugar free must equal bland dinners as this quiche, I am chuffed to say, was likened by little sis Em to those served in The Plant Exeter. Has any one been? If you're in the Exeter area their range of vegan salads, quiches, cakes and the like should not be missed. But back to quiche...

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 pepper (orange is what I had, red and yellow would be good too)
• About 6 medium tomatoes (I didn't have cherry toms but they would be good I reckon)
• 3 red onions
• Handful of sweetcorn (I couldn't make a quiche without some)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 or 4 tablespoons vegan pesto (I used Meridian green pesto as its particularly yum)
• Drizzle of oil
• 1 packet silken tofu
• Tablespoon tomato puree

For the crust

• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1 handful green olives
• 1 tbsp capers
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 or 7 tbsp soya milk to bind pastry 

1. First I prepared the roasted vegetables for the filling by chopping them all up into a roasting dish (minus sweetcorn), crushing over the garlic and drizzling with a little oil. I then added the pesto and stirred through, roasting it all for 20 mins at 180C.

2. Whilst waiting for the roasted veg, add 1 cup of sieved wholwheat flour to a bowl for the pastry and chop in the olives and capers. Mix this together and then add the 4 tbsp olive oil (I start to draw the pastry together a la Delia by cutting with a knife- it seems to work well but i'm sure a spoon or hands work too). Add in the soya milk until the pastry comes together completely without being wet. Wrap it in a ball and keep in the fridge until needed.

3. When the veg is out of the oven and you're ready to put it all together roll out the pastry and press it into a quiche/flan dish. The olives and capers make the pastry a little bit more delicate so watch out for them when rolling so you don't get holes.

4. To assemble the filling whizz up the block of silken tofu in a blender until really smooth. To the tofu I added a tbsp of tomato puree for a bit of colour, I have seen tumeric suggested which seems a good idea - I just couldn't find any in the cupboard! The tomato worked great though, giving colour and adding flavour. I considered mustard for colour... but I think wisely opted against it as the flavour was pretty strong.

5. Stir the roasted veg and sweetcorn into the blended tofu, add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste and simply spread on the pastry base.

6. Bung it in the oven at 180C for 30 mins.

7. Slice and serve with whatever you like. We went for an array of salads created by me and Em including potato salad, mixed bean salad, courgette, kale and seed salad and some wholewheat cous cous. Yum. And perfect if you've overindulged in banoffee :)