Pie Crust!

[Frances03]

This is SOOOOOOOOO easy!!! And it's pretty!! and it tastes GREAT to me!! My whole family approved too!! (I've been gluten-free for almost a year, so if you just went gluten-free, don't comment! Things taste different if you're not used to it!)

1 1/4 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1/2 cup shortening

5 Tbsp cold water

Mix flours. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles small crumbs. Stir in water and form into a ball in your hands. Ball should JUST stay together. In other words, you should not have a DOUGH, but a bowl full of crumbly business that holds together when pressed into a ball, but will still fall apart if smashed! Place ball in pie plate. Smash down with hands until crust covers bottom of plate. Then take a flat bottomed glass or measuring cup and press firmly until crust starts to rise up sides of pie plate. Keep at it until you have a pie crust formed. Prick several times with fork. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Then fill with pie or quiche and bake according to filling recipe.

I just made spinach quiche and it's FANTASTIC!!!!!! I am so excited, can you tell?? I'll be making all sorts of pies this holiday season. Also the flax meal makes it looks so NICE!!!!!!

p.s. This is a one crust deal. I have NOT tried it for a double crust recipe, so I have no idea if it would work on the top. I suspect not, as you can't really "roll" it out or anything like that.

[sa1937]

I just made spinach quiche and it's FANTASTIC!!!!!! I am so excited, can you tell?? I'll be making all sorts of pies this holiday season. Also the flax meal makes it looks so NICE!!!!!!

p.s. This is a one crust deal. I have NOT tried it for a double crust recipe, so I have no idea if it would work on the top. I suspect not, as you can't really "roll" it out or anything like that.

This sounds so good! Did it hold together when you cut the quiche? I got together with friends yesterday and one of them made an apple pie using a pie crust mix (she had no idea which brand) and I thought I died and went to heaven...first pie I've had since I went gluten free six months ago. She had a difficult time with the top crust but I thought it was great. Another non-celiac friend thought it was "strange". lol

I would think for an apple pie, for example, you could make a streusel topping and forget about having to come up with a regular rolled out top pie crust.

How about posting your recipe for the spinach quiche? I had one I perfected but it started with a package of Stouffer's Spinach Souffle, which is a no-no now since it has wheat in it.

[Dixiebell]

I found this on All Recipes.com. It was very good. I made mini quiche's in a mini muffin pan for a party. Yum!

Crustless Quiche

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

5 eggs, beaten

3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I used shredded swiss)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

2.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.

3.In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.

4.Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

[sa1937]

I found this on All Recipes.com. It was very good. I made mini quiche's in a mini muffin pan for a party. Yum!

Crustless Quiche

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

5 eggs, beaten

3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I used shredded swiss)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

2.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.

3.In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.

4.Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Drool, drool! We always do a wide variety of appetizer-type foods for Christmas Eve. Love the idea of mini-quiches. I hope I can tolerate cheese better by then.

[Frances03]

Yes the crust held together perfectly for the quiche! It stood up just like a regular crust and it was even somewhat flaky! I think the flax helped with that, along with making it look prettier. Let's see, I always make 2 quiches as I have a large family. Here's the recipe.

8 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1 cup shredded swiss cheese

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out well (you can use a larger pkg too)

1/3 cup green onions, sliced

1/2 tsp pepper

salt to taste

Mix all together, pour into 2 pie shells (prebake my crust recipe for 10 minutes at 400). For quiche, set oven to 350, and bake for 45 minutes, until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

For broccoli ham quiche, replace spinach and green onion with 1 to 1 1/2 cups finely chopped cooked broccoli, 1/2 cup chopped ham, and minced onions.

Just wanted to add, I've been making this quiche for about 13 years now! I'm glad I've found a good replacement for the crust.

[Marilyn R]

Wow! Thanks so much for the recipes...they sound wonderful. I'm going to give it a whirl!

I'm wondering if coconut milk or oil could replace the dairy...hmmm

[Black Sheep]

Mmm, the crust recipe sounds so good, and easy, too! I never have like rolling out pie crust....to me it was just a pain and I could never seem to get it all the same thickness. Then when I was done I'd always have trouble getting it into the pie plate. This sounds way easier!

And Marilyn, I don't see why coconut milk wouldn't be absolutely delish! I had to go off dairy for awhile and found c. milk to be quite good in coffee. In fact I used it a couple of days ago when I was out of cream. You can also add chunks of fruit, sugar or your favorite natural sweetener (I don't use sugar, since I'm dieting), some vanilla, and a tiny bit of guar gum to your coconut milk and freeze it for ice-cream. Well, that's my theory anyway--I haven't done it yet because I can't find guar gum anywhere in this little one-horse town. So I'm thinking of trying it with a tiny bit of xanthan gum instead. What the heck, I use xanthan gum for everything else.....

[MelindaLee]

p.s. This is a one crust deal. I have NOT tried it for a double crust recipe, so I have no idea if it would work on the top. I suspect not, as you can't really "roll" it out or anything like that.

I did a similar crust for a dish. I needed a top crust, so I rolled it out on wax paper with plastic wrap on top. I was able to peel off the plastic wrap and use the wax paper to hold the crust together to get it to the top of the pie. I had to use the same technique you used with the bottom crust so I was a little nervous if I would be able to make it work. But, it DID!!!

[Black Sheep]

I was able to peel off the plastic wrap and use the wax paper to hold the crust together to get it to the top of the pie. I had to use the same technique you used with the bottom crust so I was a little nervous if I would be able to make it work. But, it DID!!!

You are obviously not a clumsy baker like me!

[MelindaLee]

You are obviously not a clumsy baker like me!

I would say if I can do it...anyone can!!

[Marilyn R]

Hey, Black Sheep, thanks for the tips!

[Black Sheep]

Marilyn---you're welcome! Let us know how it turns out.

[njbeachbum]

just an idea for a quick crust....

my partner made a quiche one day and for the crust he used corn chex - just pulverized them in the food processor with melted butter until it formed a sticky, crumbly mixture. He pressed it into the pie plate, filled it and baked and it was fantastic. The eggy quiche mixture seemed to seep into the crust and help it harden and stay together. It sliced beautifully...

try it!!