Zucchini pie | No Eggs - no tofu

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This zucchini pie is made with a soft a delicious crust that hugs an eggy, cheesy, zucchini filling. It's incredibly satisfying, indulgent, and yet so nutritious. It's light and yet fulfilling. It's really a perfect dish that ticks all the boxes.

And because we like to make it without eggs, butter, or dairy, this zucchini pie caters to most dietary needs.

Jump to:

• What is a zucchini pie?
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How to make the perfect zucchini pie
• Tips
• Frequently asked questions
• Storage
• Variations
• Recipe

What is a zucchini pie?

A zucchini pie is a baked dish containing a savoury filling wrapped in a pastry dough casing. It's filled with zucchini and red onions, that keep it moist and give it a lot of flavour.

The best thing is that this recipe is extremely versatile, and you can use it in multiple occasions. You can eat it warm for dinner with a light tomato cucumber salad. Or serve it for brunches and birthdays to impress your guests.

You can even let it cool down, cut it in slices and bring it to a picnic, or eat it as a snack. You freeze it, and it will still taste great! So it's perfect for meal prep.

And if you are too busy to make the pastry casing, you can just bake it "naked", in a pie dish lined with parchment paper.

The secret, star ingredient in our zucchini pie is chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour). It allows us to make a pie without eggs or tofu, but still moist, nutritious, and fulfilling.

I promise: you won't be able to taste the chickpea flour at all!

Follow our recipe and you'll be able to make the best zucchini pie you've ever had, without eggs, without dairy, and without tofu.

Ingredients & Substitutions

For the zucchini pie filling

• Zucchini: we like to use zucchinis that are not too big, so we can cut them in cute round slices.
  
• Red onion: we prefer red to white onion because they are less pungent, and sweeter. You can replace it with leek or shallots.
  
• Chickpea flour: also known as garbanzo bean flour is the main ingredient in this recipe. You can replace it with red lentil flour or with fava bean flour, but for best results stick to chickpea/garbanzo bean flour. This recipe does NOT work with soy flour or with regular wheat flour.
  
• Olive oil: we like to use extra virgin olive oil. You could replace it with other vegetable oils, but the flavour will be slightly different.
  
• Water: plain water to mix the chickpea flour.
  
• Baking powder: it helps make the filling lighter, it's a key ingredient in this recipe.
  
• Nutritional yeast: this adds the cheesy flavour and saltiness to the filling. It really is perfect in this recipe.
  
• Salt & pepper: to season the filling. For pro vegan cooks, a pinch of kala-namak - a black Indian rock salt - can be added to give a stronger eggy flavour. However this is not necessary and strictly optional.
  
• Dairy-free parmesan/vegan cheese: this is optional, but when we have it at home, we like to sprinkle it on top of the pie, before baking it.

For the pie crust

The pie crust for this zucchini pie is extremely easy to make. You'll only need water, all-purpose flour, salt and olive oil.

How to make the perfect zucchini pie

For this recipe you'll need an immersion blender (or regular blender), a rolling pin, and a pie dish. We use an 11 inch (28 cm) pie dish, or round baking tray.

Start with the pie crust

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the pie crust: water, flour, oil, and salt. Mix with a fork until the flour absorbs all the water.

Transfer onto a worktop and knead with your hands for 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. You can do this with a kitchen aid if you prefer.

Shape it into a ball, cover it with a kitchen cloth and let it rest for at least 30 minute, at room temperature.

Resting allows the gluten in the dough to relax, making it easier for you to roll the dough later. In the meantime, prepare the zucchini pie filling.

Make the zucchini pie filling

Thinly slice the red onion, then fry it for 3 minutes in a non-stick pan with the olive oil.

Once the onion is soft, add the sliced zucchini, a dash of tap water, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the zucchini is soft (but not mushy, so don't overcook it).

While the zucchini cooks, you can prep the chickpea flour mix.

Make the chickpea batter

In a bowl, add chickpea flour, water, olive oil, nutritional yeast, a pinch of salt, and pepper. Blend with an immersion blender for about three minutes. You can also use a regular blender.

The batter needs to be completely smooth. Now, set aside, and go back to the dough.

TIP: we did many tests, beating the batter with a fork, with a whisk, and with an electric beater. But an immersion blender or a regular blender yields the best results.

Roll the dough

First, preheat the oven to 390F or 200C.

With a rolling pin, roll the dough ball. Dust the worktop and the rolling pin with flour, to prevent the dough from sticking.

Roll the dough as large as your pie dish, so that it can cover the bottom and sides.

Oil your pie dish or line it with parchment paper if you prefer. Transfer the dough into the pie dish, making sure the dough covers all sides, up to the rim.

Now add the baking powder to the chickpea batter, and whisk till dissolved. You can also blitz it up with the blender.

Add the zucchini to the chickpea batter and mix them with a spoon. The zucchini should be well distributed in the batter.

Transfer the chickpea-zucchini mix into the pie crust. Move the zucchini around with a spoon to make sure they are evenly distributed.

Fold the excess pie crust onto the filling, to create a rim. If you want, you can sprinkle with dairy-free cheese/parmesan.

Then bake for 30 minutes at 390F or 200C. Your zucchini pie is ready when is crisp and golden on top, but stil moist and soft inside.

The pie can be eaten warm, or at room temperature.

Tips

Add the baking powder last: add it just before adding in the zucchini, and shortly before baking. This way we take advantage of all leavening power of the powder, while the pie is in the oven. It'll turn out lighter this way.

Let dough rest: before rolling, it's really helpful to let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, covered with a kitchen cloth. Resting will relax the gluten, making it a lot easier for you to roll the dough thin.

Taste the zucchini: I recommend tasting the zucchini before adding them to the chickpea flour batter. They should be well seasoned.

Don't overcook the zucchini pie: overcooking will dry out the pie. I wouldn't cook it more than 30 minutes, but in some ovens it might take a few minutes less.

Frequently asked questions

Storage

You can refrigerate the zucchini pie for up to 3 days. Then warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds, or in an oven with the grill function.

The pie can also be frozen. To freeze, wait for it to cool completely, then place it in a freezing bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw it in the refrigerator, then warm up in the microwave or oven. Alternatively, thaw in the microwave.

Variations

Use a different vegetable: broccoli, tomatoes, boiled potatoes, artichoke hearts, asparagus, mushrooms. Those are just some of the veggies that you can add or use on their own, to make other delicious pies.

Crustless zucchini pie: you can either make a crustless zucchini pie and bake it in the oven, or cook it on a pan with olive oil. When it comes to crustless, we slightly prefer the one cooked on a pan. Follow our recipe for our zucchini frittata, to see how to cook it.

Oil-free version: cook the zucchini and the onion in ½ cup of water. You can also make the dough without oil. Just remove it from the ingredients. Then use parchment paper to line your pie dish. And here you go. A zucchini pie with no oil.

Recipe

If you liked this recipe, you might also like:

• Vegan frittata with onion and zucchini
• Pasta aglio olio
• Easy risotto

Did you try this recipe at home? Let us know in the comments below, or take a picture  and tag us on Instagram @italiaplantbased.

Buon appetito!

Nico