Spring veg quiche with sweet potato crust

Vegetable quiche recipe

No brunch table or picnic basket is complete without a serve of quiche. The famous savoury tart, which is believed to have its origins in Germany, but is more known as a French dish, is traditionally made with savoury custard and smoked bacon. These days there are plenty of variations of the filling - think mushroom, broccolini, leek, spinach, roast potato, ham and even seafood such as crab and prawn. Its versatility makes the dish a popular choice for a light lunch, brunch or dinner. This roast vegetable quiche makes eating your greens easier and tastier, and since this is a vegetable quiche without pastry, it’s also gluten-free. The vibrant vegetables for quiche include spinach, broccoli, broad beans and sugar snap peas. This quiche not only looks like a work of art, it’s also good for you, down to the sweet potato crust.

Ingredients you’ll need for a healthy vegetable quiche recipe

The golden ‘crust’ for this veggie quiche is made from thinly sliced sweet potato. The use of potato instead of regular pastry technically makes this recipe a crustless vegetable quiche. The green filling is made up of the best vegetables for quiche: leek, spinach, baby broccoli, broad beans, peas, snow peas and sugar snap peas. You’ll need 8 eggs to make the filling and some thickened cream to make it smooth and creamy. Goat’s cheese adds a sharp savoury flavour to the quiche. You can serve this with spring onion curls and dill sprigs if you like.

How to cook an impressive roasted vegetable quiche

First, you’ll need to make the sweet potato crust. Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a 24cm round fluted quiche dish. A ceramic dish will work best as it will catch any leaks from the filling. Peel the sweet potatoes then, using a mandolin, slice them crossways to 1mm thick. If you don’t have a mandolin, you can use a sharp knife. Place the sweet potato slices in a large bowl and drizzle with ½ tbs of olive oil and season. Toss the slices around in the bowl to make sure each one is coated in the oil mixture. Then arrange the sweet potato slices over the base and side of the dish, overlapping the slices, in 3-4 layers. Allow some slices to extend above the side of the dish. Place the dish on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender, then reduce the temperature to 160°C.

Now it’s time to prepare the filling. Heat ½ tbs of olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the thinly sliced leek and cook for 1 minute on each side or until light golden then transfer to a plate. Add the baby spinach leaves and cook for 2 minutes or until just wilted then transfer to a bowl. Next, place the baby broccoli, broad beans and the combined peas in a large heatproof bowl. Pour enough boiling water to cover and set aside for 30 seconds then drain well.

Then place the eggs and cream in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk until the mixture is combined. Arrange the spinach, leek, baby broccoli, broad beans and combined peas and some goat’s cheese over the top of the sweet potato crust and pour the egg mixture over the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the egg mixture is set and the sweet potato crust is golden brown. You can sprinkle some spring onion curls and dill on top if you like, then serve.

Now get cooking

Now that you know how easy they are to make, there are loads of other meat and vegetable quiche recipes to try, including the classic quiche lorraine. This one is served with a pear salad for a fresh side. Try a garden vegetable quiche like this wholemeal mixed tomato quiche, which celebrates tomato season. For a hearty dish full of flavour, try this pumpkin and chorizo quiche. And if the little ones can’t get enough of this tasty lunch favourite, whip up these wholesome mini bread quiches for a lunch to score top marks.