Quiche. It can be eaten at any time during the day. Breakfast? Yum! Lunch? Great! Dinner? Delicious! A quiche is a bit like a good club sandwich – an oldie but a goodie and quite a kiwi one at that!
One night this week, dinner consisted of mini quiches in homemade pastry shells with mushrooms, diced onions, bacon, sun dried tomatoes and a sprinkling of cheese. To lighten the meal up a bit I served it with a green salad.
Quiche is one of my favourite things to make and these are so adorable and much more fun than a regular old quiche! As a child I remember going to great Aunt’s house in Eastbourne, Wellington. She had set up a little tea party for my two older sisters and me. We each had our own individual teacup, saucer and teapot (with hot blackcurrant!). I remember walking away thinking that was just the bee’s knees. It could have been partly to do with having two siblings and having to share everything..yeah, I was no good at that but that summer afternoon made so much sense, everything was all right with my 7 year old world.
To cut the long story short, since then I’ve always liked meals that are presented as individual portions (these days it is never a sharing issue, more aesthetically pleasing presentation!). Anything in ramekins like mini pot pies – fish or chicken and leek I just love. MMMmmm.
These little gems are just so damn tasty but you can decide for yourself. The idea is to be creative and play with ingredients! I used a 12-hole muffin pan for this basic quiche recipe. I cut out square pieces of pastry and just kind of free formed the crust. I love making a quiche and it is such a great staple for the ultimate kiwi summertime picnic. Amen.
Mini Quiches
For the pastry crust:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
- 50 grams of butter, softened
- 1/2 a cup of grated cheese
- 3-4 tablespoons of water
Sift the flour and salt together. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the grated cheese and then the water, a few drops at a time until the dough sticks together and forms a soft ball. You may need to add a small amount of flour if the mixture appears a little too wet. Chill the dough for five minutes. Roll dough out onto a floured board and slice into 10 x 10 cm squares. Place each square until a muffin hole and shape to fit.
For the filling:
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 a cup of trim milk
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 a teaspoon of pepper
- 1/2 a cup of grated cheese (or chopped feta)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 rashers of bacon
- chopped sun dried tomatoes
- sliced mushrooms
Beat the eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper together. Fill the small pastry cases with anything you’d like in your quiches. I used all ingredients listed above. If using bacon, give it a quick zap in the microwave first and then chop up and divide between the muffin holes. Top with cheese and pour the egg mixture between each muffin hole. Shake a wee bit of pepper and salt over the top of each. I also topped the quiches with a few pine nuts to add to the flavour!
Bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!
I actually can’t recall when I first saw this recipe. No doubt in some women’s magazine I picked up briefly at the supermarket or in a waiting room. I truly believe one of the best fillings for pretty much *anything* is the spinach and feta combo. Spanakopita, quiche, tarts, omelettes, bread…you just can’t beat it. In fact, I’m pretty sure any time I cook with either it is always a success.
Spinach and Feta Tartlets
After Taste 