Recipe Extract: Roasted cherry tomato quiche with chickpea crust

Easy, yummy and gluten free.

This is the easiest pastry to make, requires no fiddly rolling out and, unlike many other gluten-free pastries, doesn't disintegrate into crumbs when you bite into it. This is what I make at the peak of summer when our tomato plants are going into overdrive and I'm scrambling to use up hundreds of cherry tomatoes. - Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS CHICKPEA CRUST:

3/4 cup (135g) dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight, or 400g tin cooked chickpeas, rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup (35g) fine brown rice flour

2 tbsp tapioca flour or gluten-free organic cornflour

1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

1 &1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

FILLING:

500g cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped thyme

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 large free-range eggs

3/4 cup (185ml) coconut, almond or rice milk

1/2 cup firmly packed basil leaves, finely shredded plus extra, to serve

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp finely chopped chives

2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in a saucepan and cover with plenty of fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 25-35 minutes or until tender but not falling apart. Drain well and set aside to cool slightly. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 32 x 12 cm loose-bottom fluted tart tin or a 23cm round loose-bottom tart tin.

Arrange tomatoes cut-side-up on an oven tray, scatter with garlic and thyme, drizzle with olive oil and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until tender and slightly dried.

Meanwhile, to make crust, pulse chickpeas in a food processor until finely ground (a few lumps are okay). Transfer to a bowl and add brown rice flour, tapioca flour and baking powder. Mix thoroughly with your hands, add oil and salt and mix to a stiff dough. Press evenly into the tin, lining the base and sides and using the back of a spoon to firmly press down. Bake for 6-8 minutes to lightly set - don't be tempted to cook the base for any longer than this or it will start to crack and you'll lose all your filling. Scatter two thirds of the roast tomatoes and herbs over the pastry base.

Whisk together eggs, milk, basil, mustard, herbs and seasoning and pour into the pastry case. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown and set. Leave to sit for 5 minutes before serving. If you are not serving immediately, remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to prevent the pastry sweating and becoming soggy. Top with remaining roast tomatoes and extra basil leaves to serve.