A lot has happened in the break since I last posted (well, except for the Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup that I just posted). Perhaps one of the most significant is the birth of Tory’s daughter, my niece, Eloise! You know with Tory & I involved her baby shower had some pretty awesome food! My mom hosted a brunch shower at her house and along with the make your own Mimosa bar, we put out quite the spread – our standard family favorites Strawberry Pretzel Jello and Pudding’d Fruit, a citrus salad, smoked trout, deviled eggs, a gorgeous citrus cake, a French toast bake and for our main course 3 different quiche. We made a Quiche Lorraine, a Mushroom and Gruyere Quiche, and as a Roasted Tomato, Sausage, and Spinach Quiche!
In addition to the shower, one of my gifts to Tory and AJ was a freezer full of easy meals. I made several soups, lasagna, gave her some pulled pork as a meal starter and inspired by the shower some quiche but in mini single-serve form. It freezes great and then reheats in the oven so you always have an easy breakfast, lunch or dinner! Eloise is almost two now, and I just made a batch of mini-quiche for my own freezer. It was part of my pre-surgery meal prep that I talked about.
I use the same egg mixture for whatever flavor of quiche I’m making want so it’s easy to mix and match multiple flavors of quiche. I’m going to show you how to make the Mushroom and Gruyere and also Roasted Tomato, Sausage and Spinach quiche from Tory’s shower. Quiche Lorraine is just bacon and cheese so it would be easy to do that too if you want.
Here is what you need:
The ingredients for the Roasted Tomato, Sausage and Spinach are on the left and the Mushroom and Gruyere on the right.
We’ll start by prepping the filling for each quiche one at a time starting with Roasted Tomato, Sausage and Spinach.
In medium saute pan over medium heat cook a half pound of sausage and a chopped onion until the sausage is brown and the onion is translucent. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
Add an entire 6 oz package of baby spinach to the pan and stir until it cooks and wilts down.
Meanwhile, line a small quarter sheet pan with foil. Add the tomatoes, a tablespoon of vegetable oil, salt and pepper and roll the tomatoes around to fully coat. Bake at 450 degrees until the tomatoes begin to blister and are softened, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Add sausage and onion to a medium bowl, along with the spinach, tomatoes and some shredded gouda cheese. Stir to combine.
Time to make the mushroom filling. First thinly slice the mushrooms and then chop them. I used a combination of shitake and small white mushrooms.
Mince a shallot, two garlic cloves, and chop up some fresh thyme (or feel free to use dry).
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until they start to brown, about 4-5 minutes.
Add an additional tablespoon of butter, shallots and a pinch of salt. Cook for two minutes.
Add garlic and cook for one minute.
Stir in the thyme and remove from heat.
Allow to cool slightly and stir in 1 c of finely grated gruyere.
Now that your filling is ready, whip up your egg mixture. I like to use a large measuring cup so it’s easy to pour, but feel free to use a bowl. Whisk together 4 eggs, cream, half and half, salt, pepper, garlic powder and a dash of cayenne (optional – not enough to knock your socks off but enough to make it interesting).
Roll out your pie crust. You can use Grandma’s Pie Crust or if you want to cheat, I like Pappy’s pie crust from the freezer aisle. It’s made with lard and actually tastes pretty darn close to homemade. My Auntie Moni turned me on to it a few summers ago when I asked her for Grandma’s blueberry pie recipe.
Arrange 4 mini pie tins over the rolled out dough and use a butter knife to trace the outside edge. Slide the small circle to another floured part of your counter and roll out slightly larger. Fit into your pan.
The dough for one crust should get you 4 mini pie crusts.
Arrange the crusts on two baking sheets.
Divide the filling evenly across 6 pie crusts for each variety of filling. Divide the egg mixture across all the pie crusts.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes until the custard is set – the quiche will likely be a bit puffy.
Serve these as individual portions for a fun brunch. Or allow to cool to room temperature then wrap in plastic followed by foil and freeze. To reheat, thaw and bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the center is hot.
If you’d prefer to make a full size quiche instead of the mini ones, each variety of filling will make one quiche and the custard mixture will fill two quiches. Use a regular size pie pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes until the center is set.
- Roasted Tomato, Sausage and Spinach:
- 1 c grape tomatoes
- Oil
- Salt and pepper
- ½ lb breakfast sausage
- Small onion, chopped
- 6 oz of baby spinach
- 1 c shredded cheese such as gouda
- Mushroom and Gruyere:
- 3 T butter, divided
- ⅔ lb mushrooms – stemmed and diced (mix of shitake and white button)
- ⅓ c shallot, finely diced
- ¼ t salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 t chopped fresh thyme (1/2 t dry)
- 1 c gruyere
- Quiche:
- 8 eggs
- 2 c cream
- 1 c half and half
- 1½ t salt
- ½ t pepper
- ⅛-1/4 t cayenne
- 1 t garlic powder
- 3 single crust pie crusts
- 12 mini pie pans (5 inches)
- For the tomato version: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a quarter sheet pan with foil. Add grape tomatoes, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll tomatoes around to coat in oil. Bake for 8-10 minutes until tomatoes are blistered and shriveled. Allow to cool.
- Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and cook onion and sausage together until sausage is cooked. Remove to a medium bowl. Add spinach to the same skillet and cook until it has wilted down, add to bowl.
- Once cooled, mix tomatoes, sausage and onion, spinach and cheese.
- For the mushroom & gruyere version: Melt 2 T butter in a larger skillet over medium-high heat. Cook mushroom until they start to brown, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add remaining tablespoon of butter, shallots and salt and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for one minute until fragrant.
- Stir in thyme and remove from heat. Once cool, mix in gruyere.
- In an 8 c measuring cup or bowl whisk together eggs, cream half and half, salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic powder.
- Roll out pie crusts. Place pie pan upside down over crust and trace outline. Remove from rest of dough and roll out a little more. Fit into pie pan. Repeat with remaining dough, if needed you can chill and re-roll the dough scraps to get 12.
- Place crusts on 2 baking sheets. Evenly divide the topping mixture among the crusts, each mixture should fill 6 crusts. Pour the egg mixture evenly between the crusts.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes until the custard is set and slightly puffed.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- To freeze, wrap each quiche individually in plastic wrap and then in foil.
- To bake from frozen: Thaw. Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes until center is hot.
[…] groups so we could compare and preview more recipes. My mushroom & gruyere quiche from the Mini Quiche post was inspired by a recipe in this book. Another favorite recipe is the Lasagna Soup which […]