Mini quiches
Whenever I make shortcrust pastry, I make sure I make a little bit too much. The dough lasts quite a long time in the fridge and it’s so versatile - you can use it for lots of sweet and savoury dishes! Today, we are using our leftover pastry dough to make mini quiches.
You are likely to have what you need in the cupboard.
It really doesn’t take much to make these cute little guys. Half a red pepper, three or four cherry tomatoes, the last bit of a leek… If you have a couple of eggs and some cheese you will be winning! You can decide how much of your shortcrust pastry you want to use for this, if you want to use it all or save some for yet another recipe later.
Mini Quiches
Ingredients
Pastry dough
Find the dough recipe in my lattice rhubarb and plum pie recipe! If you’ve already made the dough for the pie, you’ll have some leftover. That’s all you need.
Filling
The filling can really be whatever you want, I definitely recommend:
2 eggs
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup of finely chopped onion
Oregano or mixed herbs
Salt and pepper
But here are some of my suggestions of what is nice to put in, and you can just use what you have:
Finely chopped leek or spring (green) onion
Finely chopped tomato
Red pepper
Pancetta, bits of bacon or bacon lardons (gently cooked)
Bits of cooked salmon
Small bits of cooked chicken
Spinach
Mozzarella
Courgette, in small pieces
As you can see, this is a golden opportunity to use bits of leftovers! These quiches fill up pretty quickly so you only need a few of the above mentioned ingredients (obviously salmon, pancetta and chicken altogether would be a bit full on).
Instructions
Preheat your oven to about 200ºC, 180ºC if your oven is fan assisted. (390ºF).
Roll out your pastry dough thin, and use a big glass or mug to make little round shapes. Take each round bit of dough and press gently down in to a muffin tray or small tart dishes. Blind bake the dough for just a few minutes (five should do it if the dough is fairly thin) - read about blind baking in last week’s recipe (rhubarb and plum pie) if you are unsure.
Whisk the eggs together with a fork in a small bowl. Mix in a bit of salt and pepper.
Take the dough out of the oven, and drop a tiny bit of each of your chosen ingredients, in small pieces, in to each mini quiche. Pour a bit of the egg mix over each of them, and drizzle a gentle amount of cheddar cheese over the top. Sprinkle some oregano or mixed herbs over the top of each of them.
Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is nice and golden brown.
Take the mini quiches out and let them rest for a bit before you tuck in to them. Such a tasty lunch, picnic snack or party food!
PS: I haven’t been very clear on numbers here, because I always think of this as a lovely opportunity to make something of what you just happen to have. So if you have lots of dough and want to make a whole big batch of mini quiches, you may need more eggs and cheese for instance, just be prepared.
PS PS: These can be vegan (IF you are using vegan shortcrust pastry!!) - a vegan alternative to egg to bind the mix, and some vegan cheddar or mozzarella that bakes well is totally fine!
I’d love to see how your mini quiches turned out, what did you put in them? Were they a hit? Share your result with me on Instagram and tag @TheFromScratchBody and hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
