My easy Leftovers Quiche recipe is super-tasty AND a great way to prevent food waste. It’s an absolute favourite here for a delicious, nutritious meal that also ensures a clear conscience… Fill it with the meat and veg leftovers from roast dinner or anything else that would otherwise be heading for the bin. Make with gluten free pastry as required.
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The story of my Leftovers Quiche – Avoiding roast dinner food waste
My Leftovers Quiche was first created back in 2016. It was the result of a challenge by Joseph Joseph to come up with an innovative recipe to combat food waste, alongside the organisation Love Food Hate Waste. Originally titled Roast Dinner Quiche, it is packed with leftovers from a traditional roast dinner… However (as I learned by trial and error) not all the roast dinner ‘remains’ work quite as well. So, read on to find out how to make the BEST roast dinner Leftovers Quiche or quiche with any other leftovers you have to hand.
The problem of Food Waste and why it matters to find recipes to use it?
I HATE food waste with a passion. Way too much food (both cooked and uncooked) gets wasted in the world and it’s totally unnecessary. There are always ways to use up leftovers, or to distribute fresh excess food to those more in need. But it requires better planning, more willingness to get creative and a determination to work as individuals, households, communities and nations to combat the endless binning of good food.
And here’s the shocker! According to Love Food Hate Waste, in the UK alone… every year we throw away (just from our own households) 4.5 million tonnes of food that could be eaten. Not doing so for JUST one day would “do the same for greenhouse gas emissions as taking 14,000 cars off the road for a WHOLE year”. You heard right… That’s ONE day!!!!!!!
Which raises the question, why are we not hearing more about avoiding food waste as part of the whole climate argument? While the cost, logistics, politics and infrastructure of switching to clean energy is incredibly complex, eating the food we buy is a win win… Both for the planet and for our pockets!
Roast Dinner Quiche – A super-tasty recipe for those Sunday, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Leftovers
So… Let’s start with roast dinner. If you are anything like us, you’ll always make too much. Roast dinner is an opportunity to have a pig-out (not that I need an opportunity). And often there’s more cooked than is needed to be certain there’ll be enough to go round. So, it’s all too easy to end up with more meat; roast potatoes; roasted veggies; boiled and steamed veg; pigs-in-blankets; nut roast; Yorkshire puddings; and stuffing than we can eat.
The usual suspects at GFHQ for using them up are:
- Cold meat sandwiches on delicious gluten free wholemeal bread or stuffed into homemade artisan rolls.
- Pretty much anything warmed and popped into a homemade gluten free tortilla wrap, sprinkled with cheese.
- A good old pan of British Bubble and Squeak.
- Traditional meat leftovers curry.
- Baked Egg Tortilla with leftover veg.
- Veggies and meat chopped and added to a yummy sauce to pour over pasta, rice or baked potatoes.
- Roasties diced and fried to munch alongside bacon and eggs.
- Cold Yorkshire Puddings reheated and filled with any of the above plus a drizzle of remaining gravy.
But… my Leftovers Quiche takes Roast Dinner leftovers to a new level. And trust me… It is MORE than worth the effort to make.
What leftovers work best in a Leftovers Quiche?
While I made my Leftovers Quiche with the remains of roast dinner, don’t feel constrained. Leftovers Quiche is incredibly versatile and can be made with most leftover meat, fish, veggies, stuffing, tofu and even the remains of a nut roast. Whether the leftovers are roasted, fried, steamed, boiled or baked, they will still work well in a quiche. It’s just a matter of careful pairing of flavour matches (as you would do when making any other meal).
What leftovers DON’T work in a Leftovers Quiche?
So… which are best used elsewhere? This is only my opinion… If you think I’m wrong and want to go ahead and try stuff anyway, be my guest. But the things that don’t work in a quiche pie are usually leftovers that are carb based.
For me, Yorkshire Puddings are an absolute ‘no no’ and roast potatoes aren’t good either. I’m sure potatoes are better in a crustless quiche, but not here… And much as I love them as potato alternatives, buckwheat, rice, quinoa and other grains honestly don’t sit that well alongside pastry and egg-custard. Lastly… Steer clear (with the contradictory proviso that kale and spinach are fine) of basic salad leaves… They are generally better served alongside…
And that’s about it! The creativity is in your hands.
What’s in the Leftovers Quiche shared here?
If you’re trying to work out what’s in the Leftovers Quiche in the photos, let me fill you in. It’s a good one! There’s a mix of slow-roast pork chunks, salty chipolata sausages, earthy roasted mushrooms and sweet shallots… Oh, and some leftover steamed purple sprouting too.
To this, I’ve added some cheese (Cheddar paired with Gruyere), and a little fresh sage. All topped and cooked within a perfectly baked savoury egg custard and encased in a crisp, pastry case.
It’s always a good idea to carefully choose cheeses, herbs and spices to compliment the leftovers. (How does roast beef and Stilton sound?)…
At Christmas, I thoroughly recommend a mix of leftover turkey, pigs-in-blankets, chestnut stuffing and roast parsnips. But seriously. With Leftovers Quiche, pretty much anything goes!
What pastry is used to make Leftovers Quiche?
My Leftovers Quiche is suitable whether you are gluten free or not… The only difference is whether you use ‘normal’ wheat pastry or gluten free pastry. But either way, the best pastry to use when making quiche is a good shortcrust pastry. It doesn’t matter whether you make the pastry from scratch or use one that is ready-made. Whatever is easiest to make sure you use up those leftovers is what matters!
Don’t forget to blind-bake the pastry before you add the fillings and custard, or you’ll end up with a ‘soggy bottom’ 🤭.
What’s the best Gluten Free Pastry to make a Gluten Free Quiche?
There seem to be so many gluten free pastry options these days, it can be quite confusing to know which is best for what. So, which is best for quiche?
Homemade Gluten Free Pastry recipes
At Gluten Free Alchemist we have a range of gluten free pastry recipes. Although most are suitable for quiche, some work better than others. These are the best options…
- Basic Gluten Free Shortcrust with rice-free flour (with a Step-by-Step guide) – super-easy to handle. Perfectly ‘short’. I’ve included this version as a recipe card below.
- Rice and Almond Pastry – One of the oldest on the blog. Has a slightly more ‘ricey’ texture which contrasts well alongside the soft filling.
- Adriana’s Flaky Shortcrust – Uses standard gluten free flour blends and is quite robust, but perhaps a little less ‘crisp’ than some of the others.
- Parmesan Pastry – For when you want something a little more decadent.
Whichever you choose, I promise that (despite its reputation), gluten free pastry really isn’t hard to make and is always much nicer to eat than shop-bought. Just follow the step-by-step guide linked above if you’re unsure.
Ready-made gluten free shortcrust pastry
Check in your supermarket freezers and chillers. And also, for pastry packet mixes… Here’s a few on offer.
- Sue’s gluten free-vegan ready to roll shortcrust from The Gluten Free Kitchen. Also available in Waitrose.
- Genius frozen ready-to-roll shortcrust. Available in some Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda stores.
- Some of the major supermarkets also offer own-brand and other company pastry mixes in the ambient aisle.
Save this recipe for gluten free Leftovers Quiche!
And that’s it! Whether you need this recipe now, after Christmas or Thanksgiving, or at any other time in the future, be sure to save it. Making my Leftovers Quiche (whether gluten free or not) will be doing your bit to save the planet. And it offers a tasty and nutritious meal as well.
As always, if you do make it, let me know how you found it. Leave a comment, rate the recipe or tag me on social media. It’s easy to find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest. #glutenfreealchemist
And if you are new to Gluten Free Alchemist, why not head over to our Gluten Free Recipe Index… With over 400 gluten free recipes, you’ll definitely find something to inspire. All shared with our love… for FREE.
Other gluten free recipes to avoid food waste…
Leftovers Quiche (or Roast Dinner Quiche)
Key equipment
- sharp vegetable knife
- flat-bladed knife
- Small saucepan
- oven + hob
- cling film (opt)
- fridge
Ingredients
Shortcrust Pastry
- 500 g shortcrust pastry dough Approx weight – See separate recipe card in blog post (or link in NOTES below) for gluten free shortcrust recipe (1 batch).
Leftovers Filling (substitute with any different leftovers you have)
- 120 g roast pork (or other meat/protein leftovers) approx weight – cut into small cubes
- 4 to 5 cooked cocktail sausages approx – cut into 2½ cm (1 inch) lengths (or about 2 Chipolatas)
- 7 to 8 roasted/sautéed button mushrooms cut in half
- 3 to 4 small roasted shallots cut into halves/pieces
- 2 to 3 florets steamed purple sprouting/broccoli cut into smallish pieces
- 75 g Gruyère cheese grated (approx weight)
- 25 g mature Cheddar cheese grated (approx weight)
- sea salt & freshly grated black pepper to season (to taste)
- 5 to 6 leaves fresh sage to decorate
Savoury Quiche Custard
- 3 large eggs UK large (Canadian ‘Extra Large’; Australian ‘Jumbo’; and US ‘Extra or Very Large’) OR 1 medium to large goose egg.
- 250 ml/g double cream
- 50 ml/g milk
- 1 tsp dried sage or 1½ tsp fresh sage (finely chopped)
- salt & pepper to season
Instructions
Roll the pastry and make pie base
- Make the shortcrust pastry dough first (see separate recipe).
- Lay down and lightly flour (with corn starch/flour) either a large sheet of cling film or baking paper (see NOTES).
- If making a single quiche, place all the pastry on top of the floured surface, or divide into separate pieces if making more than one (to avoid over-working the pastry). Flatten slightly and lightly flour the top.
- Roll the pastry out to a thickness of 2 to 3 mm, checking the shape as you roll to ensure it will fit the tin (including the sides).
- Carefully lift the pastry with the support of the rolling pin and lay over the flan tin (or use the cling film-flip method as in the NOTES).
- Working quickly, ease the pastry into the base, gently moulding into the sides of the tin with flat fingers. Try to avoid cracking the pastry too much, but don't worry if it does crack as gluten free pastry is very forgiving and can be easily 'patched'.
- Trim the pastry edge flush with the top of the tin, using a sharp knife.
- Carefully examine the pastry base for any cracks or holes. If there are any, use the trimmed, remains to ‘repair’.
- To repair : Roll and trim a piece of pastry dough to rough size, and using cold water, dampen both the area around the crack/hole and the down-side of the ‘patch’ and gently press together. Smooth the edges with a finger dipped in water to seal and tidy. This is particularly important if you are making the quiche in a potentially-leaky tin.
Chill the pastry base
- Place the prepared flan pastry in the fridge for half an hour to chill prior to baking.
- While chilling, pre-heat the oven to 200 C/400 F/Gas 5.
Blind-Bake the Pastry Cases
- Prick the base of the pastry with a fork a few times across the surface. This will help avoid the pastry 'bubbling' and puffing up).
- Scrunch and then flatten a piece of baking paper large enough to fit the tin and lay inside the flan case(s).
- Fill the pastry base with baking beans on top of the paper.
- Bake the pastry with the baking beans for 10 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and remove the baking beans (lifting them on the baking paper and carefully pouring into a heat-proof container to cool). Discard the baking paper.
- Place the uncovered pastry base(s) back in the oven for a further 7 to 10 minutes, checking they are dry but do not burn.
- While the pastry base is cooking, prepare the filling.
Preparation of Sage Custard Filling
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, sage and seasoning until well combined, light and airy
Re-checking the pastry case for cracks
- When the pastry cases are cooked, remove from the oven and turn the oven down to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4.
- Re-examine the pastry for any obvious cracks where the filling may leak. TIP : If you find any cracks, use a pastry brush to brush a little of the egg mixture (or some extra egg-white) over the crack and let the heat from the hot pastry set and seal (or place back in the oven to set for a few seconds if it isn't setting).
- Make sure the pastry base (in the tin) is placed on a baking tray (in case of any leaks during cooking), ready to fill.
Fill and Cook the Quiche
- When the pastry cases are ready, arrange the prepared leftovers across the pie base and sprinkle with most of the grated cheese. (Hold back 4 to 5 mushroom halves for garnish).
- Top with a sprinkle of salt and a grind of fresh pepper.
- Pour the whisked egg-cream mixture over the top until the case is almost full.
- Sprinkle any remaining grated cheese on the top.
- Bake in the oven immediately for about 30 minutes until the top is set and there is no ‘wobble’ to the wet mixture.
- Remove from the oven and cool slightly before taking out of the tin.
- Garnish with the reserved mushroom halves and fresh sage leaves.
- Eat warm or cold.
Notes
Nutrition
© 2019-2023 Kate Dowse All Rights Reserved – Do not copy or re-publish this recipe or any part of this recipe on any other blog, on social media or in a publication without the express permission of Gluten Free Alchemist
Basic Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry
Key equipment
- large bowl
- small bowl
- fork
- flat table knife
- pastry blender optional
Ingredients
- 220 g Gluten Free Rice Free Flour blend GFA Blend B – See NOTES
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp fine sea salt (for savoury pastry) OR 1 tbsp icing sugar (for sweet pastry)
- 55 g unsalted butter cold and very small-cubed (or dairy free block alternative)
- 55 g lard/Trex cold and very small-cubed
- 1 large egg UK large (Canadian ‘Extra Large’; Australian ‘Jumbo’; and US ‘Extra or Very Large’)
- 2 tbsp very cold water (up to 2½ if more needed)
Instructions
- Weigh the flours, xanthan gum and salt (or sugar) into a large bowl and mix together until evenly combined.
- Add the butter and lard/Trex (both cut into very small cubes) to the bowl.
- Chill the bowl with the ingredients for about half hour, before rubbing the fat the into the flour mixture using finger tips or a pastry cutter, until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. (See Main BLOG POST for tips).
- In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1 tbsp of very cold water and then pour into the crumb mixture.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the crumb mixture using a table knife until it begins to clump together.
- At this stage, set the dough aside (at room temperature unless in a very warm room/climate, in which case, refrigerate) to rest for 10 to 20 minutes. This will enable the dough to fully absorb the liquid.
- Once 'rested', start to bring the dough together with hands. If the dough feels very dry, add a little more very cold water (a tiny bit at a time) and work it into the dough with the knife. If it feels very sticky, add a tiny sprinkle more flour and work through with hands.
- Bring the mixture together and press into a ball.
- If not using immediately, wrap and refrigerate. And when ready to use, take from the fridge, bring to room temperature and knead very lightly to enable it to become 'rollable'.
Notes
Nutrition
© 2019-2023 Kate Dowse All Rights Reserved – Do not copy or re-publish this recipe or any part of this recipe on any other blog, on social media or in a publication without the express permission of Gluten Free Alchemist
Leftovers Quiche shared with
- Create, Bake, Grow & Gather #495 with Shabby Art Boutique
- Sundays on Silverado #67 with The House on Silverado
- What’s For Dinner #341 with The Lazy Gastronome
- Full Plate Thursday #562 with Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
- Fiesta Friday #406 with Angie and Of Goats and Greens
This is genius, I often make a pizza with roast leftovers but I’ve never thought of make a quiche before!
Thanks Chloe. I’m happy to have created ‘genius’! I’ll swap you… I’ve never put them on pizza! 😂
Love repurposing leftovers! Such a delicious recipe.
Thank you. Me too Cat! And who doesn’t love a quiche?
This looks delish! I love the idea of using leftovers x
Thank you Hannah… It’s one of my favourite quiche recipes xx
Great idea! No desire to waste.
Thank you xx
I love a good quiche!! We make quiche quite often too as it’s a great way to use up fresh veggies that are on the verge of going bad too. I have made frittatas (basically a quiche with diced potatoes in place of the crust) and strattas (where you replace the crust with cubed bread) too depending on what leftover I’m looking to use up.
Thanks Joanne. Quiche is one of my favourites for sure.
Frittata is a big favourite here too. You can throw just about anything into it.
But I’ve not heard of Strattas before. Fascinated by that one… I’ll have to check it out and see whether it might work with gluten free bread. Thanks for the inspiration xx
I love the Joesph Joesph nest bowls – I've got a set of my own and they're fab, but not as fab as this quiche! A great No Waste Food Challenge entry, thank you!
Ahhh thanks Elizabeth for those kind words. You're welcome xx
That is a beautiful quiche, with really stunning photos. I love the egg cracker inset on the bowls – such a clever idea! Thanks for sharing with #creditcrunchmunch
Thank you Helen. The egg-cracker is genius! My favourite feature! x
Stunning photos and a superb recipe idea! Stumbled and yummed too 🙂 Thanks for entering #CreditCrunchMunch
Thank you! You're welcome xx
Thanks Alida x
I am tempted to try this! Very healthy and great looking this tart. A good way to use leftovers!
Thanks Alida. It is a really great way to use up those leftovers, and so tasty I would definitely recommend it!
What a fab idea for leftover roast dinner, love the sound of your pastry base too! Thanks for entering #CreditCrunchMunch:-)
Thanks Camilla x
Great way to use leftovers and quiches are always so nice to have at any time of the day. Sometimes if I don't know what to do for dinner I do the same.
Thanks Alida. You can't go wrong with quiche can you!?!
PS thanks for the mention my lovely!
You're welcome xx
Good grief lady! How do you make your pastry case look so neat and tidy! I need some lessons, and a proper tin (that might help!). I am so impressed and I love the look and sound of this. I really miss cheese in things like this. I have worked out that coconut milk can sub for cream pretty well but there is nothing like the cheesey taste in a quiche that just cannot be recreated. Hey ho. I'll live…this still sounds fab!
Thanks Vicki…… I know what you mean…. I have yet to find anything that substitutes well for cheese either in texture of flavour. I think I would really struggle if I couldn't eat cheese…. it is an absolute weakness of mine. I feel for you! xx
Oh yum! What a brilliant idea, I'm tempted to put a few extra bits and pieces into my Sunday roast just to make sure I have some leftovers 🙂
Ha ha! It is definitely worth 'planning' some extra leftovers for this one….. xx
oh my word…I think my eyes have never seen so much glory coming my way from you! These are truly beautiful recipes and this quiche… well, my mother would be proud. It's beautiful and I want quiche now!! Thanks for linking again to Simply Eggcellent xxx
Thank you Dom…. that's really kind of you! And if your mother would be proud, then it must have impressed… I think the quality of my inspiration and presentation usually equates to how busy I am in the 'real' world…… Got a busy few weeks coming up, so not sure the run of 'glory' will continue!
I love how this uses leftovers to make a quiche and of course a quiche is a great meal anyway for feeding people for a couple of days. I always end up with leftovers from my roast but don't really think of putting them in a quiche. It's a great idea and lovely to be inspired. I also think the mixing bowls look great – so bright and colourful! THank you for joining in with #CookOnceEatTwice again.
Thank you. Having discovered quiche as a good option for leftovers, I think I will be using it lots and lots….. I am not sure there is much that won't go in a quiche!
This is a great idea for using up leftovers – I love putting leftovers into everything including quiche but I am not sure my quiches ever look as gorgeous as in your photos. I do have roast potatoes leftover sometimes but I often over estimate the amount we need.
Thanks Johanna. I always think there is something fun about the 'leftover challenge'….. There's so much more to do with them than just reheat!
I just posted a quiche recipe and saw this post so had to comment, especially as it made me laugh when you said not to put potatoes in – the quiche I made was potato and cheese because this was the request from my daughter. Roast dinners are the best for leftovers but the hardest thing is trying not to just snack on the leftovers at meals and to actually leave the leftovers for interesting recipes like this!
Ha! 🤭 That’s funny. Yes… Maybe I should have been more specific… Potatoes per se can be good in quiche, but I always think it depends on how they are cooked, Roast potatoes (in my opinion) are pretty gross in quiche 😂😂.