Eggless Caramelized Onion and Corn Quiche is a delicious cheesy delicacy. First the crust is baked and then the quiche is again baked with filling.
My very first Quiche & baked on demand. V specifically wanted an ONION Quiche. I managed to sneak in some broccoli & corn as I am not a great fan of onion!
Google is real savior at times like this. Quiche has not been a part of our growing up meals & we do not come across it that often even now. And to top it I have to make an eggless one, life in kitchen is never simple. :) So google led me to KORasoi by Sanjana, this was my first visit there & I was quite impressed & intrigued. She has a wonderful caramelized onion quiche with lots & lots of cheese. So I decided to make it with a few changes – I replaced sweet potato with broccoli & corn & instead of using so many variety of cheeses, I used cheddar cheese, white sauce & Amul Cream. The crust had a great kick owing to addition of roasted cumin seeds, I gave it a twist by adding dried & crushed mint leaves & some freshly ground black pepper.
The recipe was enough to bake two 6″ quiches for me. I baked one and stored the remaining dough wrapped in cling film for another day. We had a little marital discord over eating the first quiche so I baked the second one when V was away in office & refrigerated it to set before he came back. He didn’t even know it existed & we got to patiently allow it set & eat next day. It also gave me the chance to lick off the cheesy spoon all by myself. ;) Scheming wife, baker, photographer! :)
As Sanjana said, the quiche making sounds complicated but when you take the first bite, it is worth all the effort. The edges of my crust did not form as well as I would have liked. The quiche also didn’t brown like Sanjana, which I think is due to difference in ovens. I will surely keep an eye on both the things next time I bake a quiche. The quiche was truly creamy with a very lovely and sweet taste of caramelized onions. I would love to bake another quiche soon. :) V & I made a pact that he can ask for any recipe but only on weekdays so that I can work in peace and prepare it well.
Caramelized Onion and Corn Quiche
Ingredients
for shortcrust pastry
- 280 gram all purpose flour
- 140 gram frozen salted butter grated
- 1½ tsp roasted cumin powder
- 1 tsp dried mint leaves
- ¼ tsp fresh black pepper crushed
- to taste salt
- 8-9 tbsp iced water
for the filling
- 240 gram onions
- 1 cup broccoli small florets
- ½ cup corn
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1 cup cheese sauce white sauce
- 150 ml heavy cream
- 3 tbsp sugar
- to taste salt & freshly crushed black pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp freshly crushed white pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
for the white sauce – makes about 1 cup
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp butter softened
- ¾ cup milk
- to taste salt & freshly crushed black pepper
Instructions
for shortcrust pastry
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, spices and salt. Rub together using your fingertips until it resembles a fine breadcrumb mixture. Avoid melting the butter while doing so.
- Add the iced water little by little & bring the mixture together to make a smooth dough. Avoid handling the dough too much.
- Cover in a cling film and refrigerate for 10 mins. I divided the dough into 2 parts & kept 1 part (wrapped in cling film) away in an air-tight container for future use.Grease a fluted tart pan. I used 6″ pan with removable bottom.
- Remove the dough. On a lightly floured surface gently roll out the pastry to 5mm thickness & around 2″ larger than your tart pan. If the pastry is breaking, remove the dough from sides & patch up using iced water.Lift the pastry gently using your rolling-pin and drape it over the tart case, such that there is an overhang of the pastry all-round. Prick some holes using a fork in the pastry.
- Chill in the fridge for 20 mins. Pre-heat your oven at 200 °C.Remove from the refrigerator. Place a waxed sheet/ greaseproof paper on top the pastry & fill it with uncooked rice/ pie weights/ baking beans.
- Blind Bake the pastry for 20 mins. Remove the greaseproof paper & rice. Return the pastry to the oven for another 5 mins for a nice golden crust. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
for the Filling
- Pre-heat the oven at 180 °C.
- In a thick bottom pan add butter, onion, olive oil & sugar. Allow it to cook covered on slow flame for 20 mins for caramelization. Stir in between, though take care and not break them up too much. Add oregano set aside.
- Steam broccoli & corn in microwave using a microwave steamer or electric steamer or pass them through salted boiling water for a couple of mins.In a large pan, add white sauce and 100 ml cream. Bring to a boil, add 1/2 cup cheese, salt & pepper. Allow it to cool.
- Gently fold in broccoli, corn & remaining cream.Fill the mixture in the cooled pastry crust. Spread remaining 1/4 cup cheese on top. Fill a small baking try with hot water & place it in the bottom of the oven. I used a small tart mold & placed it next to the quiche only as I bake in microwave/ convection oven. (this will keep the environment moist so the quiche won’t dry out)
- Place your quiche on the middle rack and bake for 35 mins until almost golden. Turn the oven off and open the door for few minutes to let the steam escape.
- Now close the door & leave the quiche inside for 2 hours. Once the quiche is cool, remove from oven and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for 7-8 hours. You can eat warm as well, if that’s what you like but this quiche really tastes out of world when cold.
- Remove. Trim the excess pastry and devour.
for the white sauce – makes about 1 cup
- In a heavy bottom pan, add little butter & flour. Continuously stir them for few minutes on low flame, till the flour is slightly cooked.
- Remove from flame & add milk slowly stirring continuously to avoid lumps. Use whisk if required. Once the mixture is smooth, move it back to the flame.
- Allow it to come to boil stirring continuously. Add salt & pepper to taste. You can adjust the consistency as per taste or dish.
