Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

Looking for something fancy to bring to a party? Look no further than these vegan bacon cheddar mini quiches!

The folks over at Teese are holding a contest on their blog and kindly sent me a free roll of vegan cheddar and mozzarella for testing! In my experience, most vegan cheeses have the best chance of melting (without resulting in a noticeably odd texture) when they’re grated, mixed with other ingredients and baked. Cheddar style Teese is  mildly flavored, so I decided to give it a try in quiche.

As I’m not exactly a quiche connoisseur, it seemed obvious that I would attempt to make what I understand to be the most basic and unfettered of quiches, quiche Lorraine. Upon researching further, I found various sources claiming that the original from the French region of Lorraine did not include cheese. It was apparently those imperious Americans who began adding cheese (Swiss, to be precise). So while this isn’t a proper quiche Lorraine, it is delicious enough to stand on its own. I’m sure you’ll find a way to forgive my impropriety.

Think of these as the frou-frou version of my overnight breakfast casserole. Don’t worry; you don’t have to be a snob to enjoy them. These bite-sized treats have America’s favorite flavor combo (cheddar and bacon, duh!) with none of the cruelty. And they’re cute, too! They’d be perfect on an appetizer tray with a batch of little wieners.

If you want to kick up the texture a notch, try using silken tofu. You can also use frozen tofu in this recipe to no ill effect. Just thaw it first and let the blender do the rest!

Vegan Bacon Cheddar Mini Quiches

makes 12 mini quiches

Filling
½ block firm tofu
2/3 c unsweetened soy milk
½ tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
1/8 white pepper
dash nutmeg
dash thyme
dash celery seed
pinch of turmeric

4 strips vegan bacon, fried and crumbled
½ c shredded vegan cheddar

Crust
1 c flour
¼ c shortening, chilled
¼ c soy margarine, chilled
~3 tbsp ice water

glass with rim ~3″ in diameter
mini-muffin pan
dry beans or pie weights

First, prepare the quiche filling. Place all the filling ingredients (tofu through thyme) in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

For the crust, sift together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening and margarine entirely until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle water over mixture; stir until dough starts to come together into a ball. Add a little more water a teaspoon at a time if necessary (less is more in this case). With cold hands, bring together into a ball. Roll out on a lightly floured surface (with a lightly-floured rolling pin). Dip the glass rim in flour and stamp out 12 circles. Fit each circle into the mini-muffin pan. Cover the bottom of each cup with beans or weights, and bake at 425º for 10 minutes. Remove weights.

Sprinkle cheese and bacon crumbles into each cup (don’t pack it in!). Pour in the tofu mixture, carefully topping off each cup. Bake at 425º for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, or until the filling has set and the crust is golden. Let cool slightly, then gently slide a knife around the rim of each cup and pop them out of the muffin tin; they should release easily. Best served warm.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 10:11 am and is filed under Breakfast, Entrees, Hors D'oeuvres, Recipes, Vegan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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