My friend Adam told me about this recipe, and then lent me the cookbook that it came from,
The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac. It is a fantastic cookbook with tons of really interesting and creative traditional recipes. We had a potluck dinner party after the Burlington Marathon, and there were vegetarians, omnivores, gluten-free, and gluten-full people in attendance. This recipe satisfied everyone, and was completely gone before the evening was over, even though I tripled the recipe. (It isn't vegan, but could be made that way with some small tweaks. Now that I think of it, with some other small tweaks, it could also be made omnivorous!) I (of course) changed the recipe a little bit; I will type out my own changes in italics. There are a lot of ingredients, but it is REALLY easy and so yummy!
Quinoa Torte- 6 cups water
1.5 cups quinoa, rinsed (I used red quinoa)
2 T canola oil
1 medium onion, finely diced (I used about twice this, I love onion)
2 medium, ripe but firm tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I used my canned tomatoes)
2 T minced fresh parsley
2 t dried oregano
.6 t sugar (I used maple syrup)
1 t sugar
.5 t allspice
.5 t black pepper
1 T minced hot pepper, or hot pepper sauce (, I used FolkFoods Master Sauce here!)
1 cup chicken broth (I used 1 Rapunzel vegan bouillon cubemixed with 1 cup water)
.5 cup all-purpose flour (I used a gluten free flour mix)
3 large eggs, slightly beaten (From Jericho Settlers Farm!)
.75 cup milk (we used real raw milk, really.)
8 ounces white cheddar, mozzarella or Muenster cheese, shredded (I used a mixture of lefter cheeses from the market that we had in the house)
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced (I didn't do this, instead, I (Another Shameless Plug) used FolkFoods Veggie Crumble mixed with a little tomato sauce, but actually both would work well.)
.5 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese ( I very likely used more than this!)
- Preheat the oven to 375, butter and flour a shallow 8 cup baking dish
- Boil the water, add quinoa and reduce heat to medium-low and cook until tender (about 12 minutes, drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
- Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, add onions, then tomatoes and cook until a chunky sauce is formed, about 10 minutes; stir occasionally. Add spices, FolkFoods Master Sauce, broth and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Toss the quinoa with the flour (or gluten free flour mix), add half of the tomato mixture, beaten eggs, milk and half of the cheddar cheese and mix well.
- Spread half of the quinoa mixture in the prepared dish.
- Top with the sliced eggs
(and/or FolKFoods Veggie Crumble-tomato mixture) and the remaining cheddar.
- Cover with the remaining quinoa mixture, and sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the top and bake until the top is browned and crispy, about 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven, rest for about 5 minutes, slice and serve!
I am sure that this is endlessly variable. I'd like to hear what people think.
I'll be making it again next week for my office business retreat, so any other thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
