It has taken me a while but I have cracked it and I think this recipe is probably my biggest triumph yet. Gluten and dairy free herby pastry and yes ma’am does it taste spectacular too. I feel that with the chicken nuggets and perfect pizza dough (still to be completed) this is up there with my ‘proudest recipe moments’. I do have a sweet version too and will share it soon, along with a couple of quiche recipes but for now I hope you can all join me in basking in this pastry glory.
But how can it be so similar to the real thing, I hear you ask…. Trust me when I say that this has the same consistency as short crust pastry, it holds together perfectly and bakes incredibly well. I always blast (blind) bake it first for 15-20 minutes before adding my filling etc and then baking for a further 30-40 minutes (with the filling, dependent on what that might be). It can be cut in to perfectly with little crummage and no soggy bottoms!
I use a non stick pie dish for baking it, the one I use doesn’t need greasing which is a huge benefit but if yours is not non stick then I recommend giving it a good coating of coconut oil of grass-fed butter first. My other tip would be (if rolling) to wrap in cling film first and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out as this helps it stick together. For me, I like a rustic style and getting my hands in by just pressing the pastry directly in to the pie dish.
In terms of flour you have a choice, I like to use a mix of ground almonds, tapioca and sesame flour. However, you could substitute the sesame flour for chestnut or coconut…. Your call, but so long as you use tapioca and ground almonds you can choose between the other three. I personally like the savoury taste of the sesame seed flour which I buy from Sukrin and I find it works very well.
For me it’s all about knowing what I am putting in my body, especially as I have to compensate everything I eat with a certain amount of insulin. The amount of times in the past when I have tucked in to a slice of supermarket bought quiche packed with grains, lactose, added sugars, stabilisers and processed meats and I have ended up feeling very bloated with horribly high blood sugars. The feeling it gives me is just not worth it and I would much rather spend a little bit more money on the ingredients and make it myself in the knowledge that what I am putting in my body isn’t going to cause any reaction (blood sugar or bloating). I know that cooking isn’t for everyone and that sometimes you simply just do not have the time but this is such a quick recipe and your body really will thank you for it! I recently made up three pastry dishes, two quiche and one chocolate torte tart with raspberry coulis. I took them to a picnic with friends and no one believed me that they weren’t made with normal flour and butter! Anyway, I shall stop singing pastry praise and let you get on with checking out the ingredients and the pictures!
- 100g Ground Almonds
- 50g Sesame Flour or 50g Chestnut flour
- 40g Tapioca flour
- 50g Coconut Oil, Melted (about 1 tbsp)
- 1 Large Egg (approx 65g)
- 1 tsp Dried Basil (OPTIONAL)
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds (OPTIONAL)
- ½ tsp Sea Salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Pepper
- 3 Tbsp Cold Water
- Pre-heat oven to 180oC
- In to a deep mixing bowl place your dry ingredients (ground almonds, chestnut flour, tapioca, dried basil, fennel seeds, salt and pepper) and fully combine
- Make a well
- Add in a whisked egg and fold in to the mix (it will go quite crumbly)
- Now add melted coconut oil and combine well (it will start to bind together)
- Now add in 1 tbsp water at a time until a dough has formed
- OPTION 1: Press the dough evenly in to the bottom of a GREASED (if non stick) pie dish
- OPTION 2: Place the dough in some cling film and in to the fridge for 30 minutes then you can roll it out with a rolling pin evenly
- Once pressed in to the pie dish you can either add baking beans (to keep the bottom from rising up) or just fork it 3-4 times (to let any air out once it's in the oven)
- Place in the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes until slightly cooked
- Remove from oven (you will notice it might have shrunk a little and pulled away from the sides of the pie dish, this is fine!)
- Now you can add your filling and then bake for allocated time (note: the pastry should be cooked for another 25-30 minutes to create a perfect golden brown crust)
Hello Emi, looks like perfection, excellent job! Your USA Friend, Cheryl
Thank you, Cheryl! I am very proud! 🙂
Ooooh you nailed that pastry!!!! If I new how to get a heart eyed emoji on my PC it was be here times a million! Love it!!!
🙂 Thank you lovely girl!
This looks amazing lovely!! We’ve got a gluten free pastry mix which I need to try out in my cupboard that i am going to use for a quiche! May give this a go soon too 🙂
Thank you thank you, so lovely to receive such nice comments! I hope your quiche works out well! 🙂
This looks great! Have to try it. I do a 3:2:1 short pastry, which is very light for sweet treats but your short pastry sounds a lot better. Thanks for the recipe! (already saved)
Greetings from South Italy…
Heidi
Oh wow, what a treat that my little blog has reached you in South Italy! 🙂 I hope you do try it, and do let me know what you think, I’d love to hear! Emi
This is absolutely stunning! I can NOT wait to try this, Emma! I love all the pictures and ingredients. You rock, lady!
Thank you, so kind! 🙂 🙂 x
Would this work with chia egg?
Hi Minna, I haven’t tried it with ‘chia egg’ so I cannot guarantee-I imagine it should work but my only worry would be whether it would set and bake the same. If you do try it please let me know! Emma
Thank you for your reply. If I try I’ll let you know. Or I’ll wait until I can eat eggs again ☺ Great looking recipe, thanks!
So excited to try this entire quiche this weekend! I was just wondering if you think Buckwheat flour would work (and not compromise the taste) as opposed to chestnut/sesame flour? I have bounteous amounts of buckwheat but no chestnut or sesame at the moment.
I definitely think buckwheat should work as I think it’s a similar consistency to sesame- you just want to make a dough… So I would add it in stages until you have the dough consistency…. If you need to add a little more flour to get the balance right then you can do so but just do it slowly until your dough is formed! If you need to add a little more moisture , add a tbsp water. Hope that helps and good luck! Let me know how you go! X
Hi Emma! Just wondering if the tapioca is dry pearls or flour?
Hi Debbie, thank you! I will amend the recipe- it’s for tapioca flour. E x
I happened to check out a picture you had of ingredients and that also helped me determine that it was the flour version as I didn’t see pearls in the photo. Thank you for clarifying that for me.
Next question do you have a source for the sugarvida that you mentioned you use. I tried to find one using their website but all the ones they give on their site do not have it. So I am assuming this is something not available in the US?
I just discovered your site here and I am having a blast checking out all of your recipes. I have blood sugar issues and am extremely happy to find a site with real recipes to help with that problem. Thank you for sharing these with the rest of us!
Thank you, that’s so happy and nice to hear. Sorry to hear you are having blood sugar issues, I hope that some of the recipes you find will help. Re Sugavida, this might help: http://www.sugavida.com/wheretobuy/ it has a map with all the US stockists. Otherwise you could try natural Stevia. I have a blog post on sweeteners vs sugar here: https://thelowcarbkitchen.co.uk/artificial-sweeteners-yay-or-nay/
Do let me know how you get on and if you try any recipes, I love hearing feedback!
Best, Emma x
This looks AMAZING! How would you store the leftovers and could this be made in advance to be served a day or two later?
I am having trouble finding conversion for the grams measurement. (We are still backwards here in the US!) Do you happen to know? I found a liquid weight conversion which of course does not apply. Am tempted to simply eyeball it using the gram weight on the packaging and dividing accordingly as I cannot wait to try this, but if you happen to know, it will help. Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Cindy – I know it is so hard to convert it all. Going forward I will start adding the oz. as I’m guessing that’s what you measure in? I find this website relatively helpful http://allrecipes.co.uk/how-to/44/cooking-conversions.aspx but I also use my own conversion chart which I have written down- so for this recipe you would need 3.5oz ground almonds, 1 3/4 oz sesame flour, just over 1.5oz tapioca flour and 1 3/4 oz coconut oil (15ml). Hope that helps?? E x