A fusion of Persian and French – it becomes an utterly divine dish. A comforting and satisfying vegetarian dish!
I have blogged about Quiche Lorraine earlier The Kokoye sabzi is a beautiful aromatic fresh herb dish – usually served during the Persian New Year (Norooz). It consists of chopped herbs, eggs (to hold it together), and seasoning. You can fry it in a pan or the oven, make it like small muffins, or almost like a cake in a pan. It is almost like a quiche but without the pie shell. It occurred to me the other day how about mixing the two. The aromatic herb mixture and an old-fashioned quiche shell a little more robust make a well-balanced meal. I took immediate action, and the result was divine!
Once I had decided to do it, I was short of certain things at home, didn’t want to go to the store, but had to use my imagination and manage the whole thing with what was in the fridge and freezer. Spinach is included in the vegetarian steaks – I replaced that with chopped spring onions – I had fresh chives but needed more – it had to be dried chives that had to sit in water for a while. I added 1 tbsp dried thyme, which turned out exactly as I had imagined. I always have grated cheese in the freezer, which is a mixture between cheddar and mozzarella, it had to do – but you can use other cheeses if you wish. I can imagine that crumbled feta cheese could give an extra good taste – yes, that will be next time 😊
If you are allergic to nuts, you can refrain from having walnuts in it – the purpose of chopped walnuts in the steaks and here, too, is to balance the texture and have a little “Crunch.”
I use pressed garlic in the batter – if you can’t tolerate garlic, you can replace it with 1/4 tsp of asafoetida. Or avoid using it.
Ingredients for 4 people
| Pie dough | 2 – 3 cloves of garlic (pressed) |
| 4 dl (240 gram) Flour | 1 Tbsp dried thyme |
| 125-gram butter | Egg mixture |
| 1 egg | 4 eggs |
| 0,5 tsp salt | 2,5 – 3 dl sour cream |
| 60 g water | 0,5 tsp black pepper |
| Filling | ¼ tsp salt |
| 100 g chopped parsley | 2 Tbsp flour |
| 150 g chopped chives | Other seasonings you can use |
| 140 g chopped spring onion | 1 tsp oregano |
| 70 g chopped walnuts | 1 tsp basil |
| 0 – 1 dl berberis | 50 g chopped spinach |
| 1 tsp salt | 100 – 150-gram grated cheese. |
| ¼ tsp black pepper | Frying oil |
A Pie mold 23 cm in diameter
Method
- Cut the butter into smaller cubes, and set aside.
Mix 240 grams of flour with 2 grams of salt and run it in the food processor a few times. Then add the butter in two batches – pulse a few times in between until you get a grainy mass. - Add the egg and water and run the food processor until everything is mixed. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about an hour.
- Finely chop the parsley and set aside. Also, chop the chives. Chop the spring onions in a blender and set aside.
- Chop the walnuts and set them aside. Using nuts is optional – but if you cannot tolerate nuts, you can avoid using them.
- Wash the barberry and let it dry. If you don’t have access to barberry, you can put in something else that can add a little acid to the taste or leave it out altogether, which would be a shame! Replace it with one or two tablespoons of squeezed lemon if you lack barberry.
- Heat a large frying pan – it has to be at least and fry the herbs for 2 – 3 minutes to reduce volume; add 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 tsp of black pepper, and 1 Tbsp dried thyme.
- Then squeeze 2 – 3 cloves of garlic or 1/4 tsp of asafoetida. When you smell the garlic, it’s time to take the pan off the stove. Let it cool.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it on a well-floured baking table. Flour and turn the dough occasionally so it does not stick. Then, roll it out into a round, approximately 25 – 26 cm in diameter.
- Transfer the dough to your pie tin (23cm in diameter), press the corners gently (see video), and cut off the excess dough with a knife.
- Cut thin strips of foil paper and cover the edges. Prick the bottom of the pie and pre-bake in a 200-degree oven for about 10 minutes.
- Take it out and remove the foil – pre-bake it for about 10 minutes again.
Take the dough out and let it cool slightly. - Crack all four eggs into a large bowl, and beat it with a fork or whisk. Then add the herb mixture, walnuts, and barberry and mix well. Add the sour cream and mix well.
- Cover the pie base with a layer of cheese mixture. Then add in the herb mixture and garnish with more cheese.
- Bake the pie in the middle of the oven (200) for about 45 – 50 minutes.
Serve with a sauce of your choice. Here you will find suggestions for a beautiful sauce that we often use here at home.
Sauce suggestion:
| White sauce |
| 4 Tbsp yogurt |
| 2 Tbsp mayonnaise |
| 4 cloves of garlic (pressed) |
| 0,5 tsp salt |
| 20 – 30-gram crumbled feta cheese |
| Extra: chopped dill, parsley, or chives. |
Enjoy!
Nice to know
| Although we now consider quiche a classic French dish, it originated in Germany (the medieval Kingdom of (Lothringen). Under German rule, which the French later renamed Lorraine. The word ‘quiche’ comes from the German ‘Kuchen,’ which means cake. If you add onion, you have quiche Alsacienne. (source) Map link |
