Mini Quiche

Quiche is something that can be made with a variety of whatever meats, veggies or cheeses you may have on hand or leftover in your fridge.  The custard filling recipe is listed below.  Once you mix that up and have a pie crust ready (I use store-bought, but homemade is even better), the sky is the limit on the fillings you can use.

It's hard to give you measurements for the filling ingredients because it depends on what items you use and how many.

For this mini version of quiche, I used little pie tins.  But, this can be done in muffin tins.

We often use a combination of chopped deli ham and crumbled, cooked bacon for the meat portion of our filling.  We sometimes add in spinach, but today I just used some chopped scallions for the veggie portion.  Peppers, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms or zucchini are, also great options.  And, we like Swiss, cheddar and grated Parmesan for the cheeses.  But, any type is fine. 

This recipe yields 8 quiche using the mini pie tins.  If using muffins tins, the amount may be different depending on the size of the "wells" in your muffin tin.


Directions:

First prepare the crust of the quiche.  I take my (thawed) store-bought pie crust out of the fridge about thirty minutes before I plan to roll it out.  Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out the pie crust a few inches wider than the original size all the way around.  Using a round cutter a little bigger than your mini pie pan or muffin tin wells, cut out the number of circles needed.  I actually use a lid with a wide "lip" that goes to a plastic container as my cutter.  It works perfectly for the size I need.

Place each disc in the pie tin.  Press down along the bottom and the sides slightly.  I like to leave a little crinkle in a couple of places along the edges.  "Dock" each circle of dough with a fork several times to prevent puffing.

Bake the crust shells on 375 degrees for about 8 - 10 minutes until they are just shy of being fully cooked.  This will help prevent a soggy crust
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Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Allow crusts to cool on counter for about fifteen minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the custard filling by whisking together 3 large eggs, 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream (or milk), 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.  Set aside.

Sprinkle whatever fillings you plan to use into your cooled pie crusts.  It's amazing how little it takes for each one ... just a pinch of whatever ingredients you're using.  Pour custard mixture into tins over the fillings.  Fill almost to the top of each crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until custard is set and tops begin to brown slightly.

It's a good idea to bake pie tins on a baking sheet to catch any spillovers.

Allow to cool for 15 - 30 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

The quiche may be frozen (after they've cooled ) for later use.  Just bake FROZEN quiche in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. 

Freezing a batch would be perfect for those early morning school days or for prepping ahead for a brunch party!