A recipe I made today comes from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book and in spite of the fact that I’ve been wanting to make it because it looks delicious I also want to submit it for the contest on Mixing Bowl. If you like my version of a vegetarian quiche you can vote on it here. The contest ends October 9th and you can submit one vote per day. It’s the first time ever that i take part in any contest so I’m pretty excited. Next week I’m planning to submit for the same contest my version of Mango Chutney which also comes from this book.

The recipe was very good but I added some more vegetables to make it more substantial and nutritious. The original recipe called only for 1/2 cup shredded carrots and some green onions. I added 3/4 cup shredded carrots, 3/4 cup peas plus green onions so my version has twice as many veggies. Also next time when I’ll be making it I will add a little bit more flour to the pastry crust. I added 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour as the recipe said but it was barely enough to fill my 9 inch pastry dish so next time I’ll add 1 1/3 or 1 1/2 cup flour and a bit more butter. Also in my version I used reduced fat milk because I’m a bit of a calorie phobic (like milk makes any difference when you used almost whole stick of butter) but if you want to make it creamier you can easily use whole milk or half-and-half.

When making this dish I could not stop wondering what is the difference between quiche and tart. I read Julia Child’s description but somehow they seem the same for me. I’ve made a recipe for mini leek tarts before and seriously I haven’t noticed any difference. I also ate quiche many times in the past and it always looked like a tart so if any of you could explain the difference to me I would gladly appreciate

Ingredients (makes 6 servings):

Single crust pastry:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup margarine, butter or shortening
4 Tbsp icy cold water

Filling:

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup peas
2 green onions diced
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup reduced fat, whole milk or half-and-half
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Sieve the flour, add salt and cut cold butter into the flour until becomes crumbly.

Start adding icy cold water, spoon by spoon and using fork incorporate it with the flour. No more then 4-5 tablespoons should be needed.

Work the dough with your hands a little bit until it becomes smooth. form a ball, wrap in foil and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

On a slightly flour board, flatten the dough with your hand and using rolling pin roll to form a circle about 10-12 inches in diameter.

Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and transfer to a 9 inch pie dish. Trim the edges so they fit the pie dish (more in the video above).

Place a double thickness foil on the pastry and bake 10 min in the oven preheated to 450°F. After that time take out the foil and bake additional 4-6 minutes or until the pastry in set and not moist anymore.

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, milk and 1 Tbsp flour. Whisk until smooth and crumbs are not visible.

Add Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, carrots, peas and green onions. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and stir around.

Gently transfer the mixture to baked pie crust, distribute ingredients evenly and bake 40-45 min or until set in the oven preheated to 325°F. After 30 minutes of baking turn the dish 180° in the oven so it can cook evenly on all sides. Let rest few minutes on a kitchen counter before cutting into portions.

Nutrition Facts in 1 serving (whole quiche yields 6 servings):

Energy:
Kilocalories 368.99 kcal, Protein 15.06 g, Carbohydrate 29.2 g
Fat:
Total 21.42 g, Saturated Fat 12.24 g, Monounsaturated Fat 5.96 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.29 g, Cholesterol 192.13 mg
Carbohydrates:
Dietary Fiber 2.35 g, Sugar 5.41 g
Vitamins and minerals:
Vitamin C 3.73 mg, Vitamin A (IU) 3,509.41 IU, Calcium 245.9 mg, Iron 2.4 mg, Sodium 465.95 mg